


A New Run: The Suffering of a Self Insert

by GravityMassUniverse



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Death, Drama, F/F, F/M, Genocide, M/M, Magic system, Mystery, Other, Past Child Abuse, Plot train off the rails, Post-Apocalypse, Real and fantasy Earth politics, Science Fiction, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Insert, The Void, Time Travel, War, Worldbuilding, speculative biology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-08-05 20:40:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 65,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16374674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GravityMassUniverse/pseuds/GravityMassUniverse
Summary: By author fiat, another self insert is thrown into the pits of the Underground.Confused and hurt, he finds that the Underground is no longer what it once was.Friends old and new are all alive at the same time.His foreknowledge proven useless, now he remains at the end of a long cycle of RESETS.This is...a new run...





	1. Chapter One: Once Upon a Time

**Chapter One: Once Upon a Time…**

 

Ugh…I’m…falling?

 

I remember…it was about a week after my birthday, I was going to sleep and then…nothing. Now my eyes are still closed…I should open them.

 

I opened my eyes to see a hole that opened up to a clear sky, telling me I was in some type of gigantic cavern. Despite this there was a radiant sense of calmness that kept the constant alert of danger and fear of death from overwhelming my logic. That clarity was promptly shattered once I flipped around to face an empty sit of grass a hundred meters down.

 

Oh God…oh God not that!!

 

What the hell?! Nope!

 

_FUCK!!_

 

I felt and _heard_ my bones crack as I hit the ground at terminal velocity. But despite that…I was still alive. I felt a trickle of blood run down my face, and I hoped I didn't get a concussion.

 

My hands were trembling as they held me up on the grassy and soft ground. I heard a distant slightly deep voice as well footsteps run closer to me. I saw a humanoid shadow look over me, and I took a deep raspy breathe. Whoever this was I hoped they could help me…

 

There was muted surprise and almost fear as a _furry_ hand grabbed my shoulders, gently picking me up. I stared into a goat teens eyes, and he spoke.

 

“Ch—wait who are you?” I felt right onto my ass as I met face to face with a teenage Asriel Dreemurr. His eyes widened and his left hand glowed with a green light. A sigh left my mouth as the pain and ache of damaged bones and muscles went away in seconds.

 

“B-Brandon…” I cleaned off the drops of blood near my mouth and stood up on unsteady feet. I blanched as I took notice of Asriel’s sheer height, he was around eight and a half feet tall and strongly resembled how he looked after acquiring all of the SOULS.

 

“Ahhhhhhhh!!” My eyebrows scrunched together as I heard a noise coming up from above. I followed Asriel’s gaze as he looked up and frowned as two distinct shadows got closer and closer.

 

“Oh God Chara I've…got you!!” Asriel was flailing around as he tried to position himself in the right spot.

 

Maybe I should move out the wa— _AGGHH_ WHY ME!?

 

A huge weight had dropped onto me also at terminal velocity but this time I didn't break anything. I gripped onto whatever I was holding out of reflex, flushing as a feminine moan was released from what I was holding. I couldn't really see much of anything as something soft and warm blocked my vision. I decided to push whoever was on me off because I already had a good idea on what was happening. Honestly it's a good thing real life isn't anime or I'd have been punched in the face.

 

The person on top of me didn't get off completely and quick glance told me her(?) hands were pinning my weak arms down. Her hands were almost delicate but I could feel some calluses and scars  from where her hot hands met my skin.

 

Um…hello?

 

The girl, well no young women since she looks like she's around my age was giving me a curious(and mortified) look.

 

She was…really pretty…I’m sure I've seen someone who like like her in a comic but I can't remember where, the Mercy series maybe? This…person was clearly a fair bit taller than me, maybe about a head taller? So around 5’11 in height…

 

She had a slightly oval face with full cheeks, her hair falling to just above her shoulders. A blue and purple striped sweater did little to hide her figure and I flushed as I noticed my hands had gripped her hips. I promptly let go at that very moment and kept my hands to myself.

 

“Um…” I swallowed nervously as I got my bearings. “C-Could you get off please?” Both of her eyes were…not closed just narrow and half lidded. When I asked my request she nodded, opening a bright blue eye that shined with an ethereal light. I could see hints of red speckled here and there as well.

 

The girl jumped off, landing on her booted feet. I yelped as she pulled me and I nearly landed on her chest before my feet caught on her boots. She kept me steady and I thanked her quietly, feeling the grip of anxiety trip me up.

 

She smiled openly and I felt a fluttering in my chest “Hey cutie.”

 

W-What?! My cheeks turned red and I took a step back in response. The other human who I couldn't see well from this angle groaned, palming their face.

 

“U-Uh hi?” Her wide grin shrunk, and she looked rather more bashful at my reaction. “I don't know who you are?” I have my guesses but…

 

“Oh?” The girl looked surprised and she pointed to herself with another smile. “My name is Frisk.” I nodded and decided to properly introduce myself.

 

“Uh Brandon…it's nice to meet you.” She focused in on my hand for a moment before taking it into her own. Her hand engulfed mine due to her greater height and I ignored my inner disappointment with it.

 

I let go and turned to the _other_ human in the room who was equally… _something._ She was about the same height if with a slightly differing body type, ignoring the other more _obvious_ differences.

 

“Flirting never worked before…I don't get it…”

 

Hmm…maybe she hasn't realized she's in an older body yet? Not sure how when I have a budding _beard_ on my face despite my diminutive height.

 

The other…human had a more angular face, as well as a lighter skin tone paired with naturally red cheeks. Her eyes were wide open and it was hard to meet the sharp ruby gaze of the young women. Unlike Frisk she had a normal t-shirt with green and yellow stripes instead. The sleeves were cut off and I could see the definition and muscles underneath her rather lovely complexion. She had a pair of brown cargo shirts that let me see her…legs, hmm red anime protagonist esque shoes ehh?

 

“What?” Her tone was flat and I shook out my stupor to the best of my abilities.

 

“I—”

 

“What is going on here?” From behind us a figure slightly shorter than her son approached with a worried tone of voice. Asriel turned around and pusher Chara behind him while we stood still. “You should be back h—oh, _oh._ ”

 

Well…this is a little awkward isn't it?

 

***

 

_—play Home—_

 

I swear I heard music as Toriel tended to the remaining humans injuries. There a small affectionate grin on this Frisk’s face as the monster magic sunk into her wounds. Chara had a more neutral expression and I shivered at the contempt in her eyes. This was a person who had an unimaginably negative perception of humanity.

 

As for Toriel…she looked _slightly_ older than she did in canon, but still looked like an adorable cartoon goat mom. Kind of wanted to give her a hug but I held myself back. There was fortunately no crazy axe-crazy flower to interrupt us yet it still looked almost exactly the same as the ingame Underground.

 

Toriel guided us past the puzzles and traps…though she let us do it themselves since we were clearly grown adults. How Toriel could tell that I was one was unknown but I had no real reason to complain. Eventually we stopped at a much better taken care of Home, no extra shoes, no dusty toys, just a nice simple and friendly house.

 

The only indication that something was off…was the shiver as _something_ slammed into my…SOUL? I couldn't describe it, a sensation as reality _bent_ with little enthusiasm from whoever was doing it. Whether or not that was a good thing I had no idea.

 

“So why did _you_ come here?” I flinched as Chara called me out, the girl calmly sipping a cup of tea. Her eyes blazed with… _determination_

 

Heh…

 

“What's so funny?” I blinked and realized I had laughed out loud. I shrugged awkwardly making the redhead sigh with a palm of her face. “Whatever…” She turned to the other two as Toriel had gone out to get some foodstuffs for us.

 

“Now do you two have any idea on what's going on?” Asriel and Frisk shook their heads, and I sighed as I realized she was likely ignoring me. “You're still alive, yet everything looks a lot like what happened after we _died_ . All three of us are physically older better matching up with our true mental age, and this _bozo_ is here too.” Oh that little bitch…

 

“There’s no need to be so mean you know.” I felt a smile pull at my lips at Frisk’s defense of me. I yelped as Chara gave me a poke in the belly, her nose twitching and her lip pursing in disgust.

 

“Come on, he's just a pudgy out of shape human who may or may not even remember if we RESET!”

 

“A part of me wishes I had never played Undertale.” I muttered under my breath as my frustration grew. My breathing was suddenly restricted as hands toughened by work and exercise wrapped around my throat. My hands instantly grabbed the constricting fingers loosening the pressure. My feet dangled in the air as Chara lifted me upwards, her eyes shining with rage. Despite my frankly justified terror I still managed to have the balls to glare back.

 

“CHARA STOP!” Frisk ripped me out of Chara’s hold and I landed on her lap. I flushed as she held me tightly, likely to keep me out her friend’s hands and relatively restricted.

 

Not that I had any real reason to run…there was nowhere for me to go. Since the Barrier is up I had only had the Underground to flee into and they likely knew every single little nook and cranny in this place.

 

“Tsk,” Chara sat down, the chair bouncing at the unnecessary force. She looked at at me with a single eye, holding up her chin with her right hand. “Fine, be that way _partner._ But I'm still gonna get my answers no matter how many Resets it takes.” Frisk looked uneasy at the fallen child's declaration.

 

“You know you can just ask right?” Her confident look was instantly shattered and I held back a laugh as she fell back into the chair, flailing her arms.

 

“Wha?” Her confusion was cute and I wanted to pinch her cheeks with how adorable she was.

 

“Now what do you want to know?” I steepled my hands in a confident businessman position. She leaned forward in interest and relief that she wouldn't have to waste time.

 

“As much as you can tell me…”

 

***

 

We followed Toriel silently as we walked through the Capital. Unlike on the game, there was newly developed trolley system that reduced the travel time from a few hours to mere minutes. It had been _very_ awkward since all the monsters were quite actively staring at us while we passed. From what I could tell the Underground was far larger than it should be based on the expression of Frisk and Chara’s faces at the time.

 

The other monsters were still staring with a wide variety of looks. Some looked curious, confused, afraid or even angry. They likely wouldn't be as friendly as they usually were since we were adults. But even then most didn't seem to particularly hate us either.

 

I felt awe as the castle came into view an example of the juxtaposition between the old and the new. I could see hints of advanced technology more suited in a science fiction novel than a game about a human child befriending a race of monsters. I could see in the shadows a familiar shape seemingly blending into the darkness.

 

Undyne…

 

I looked away just as we stopped at the foot of the castle. It rivaled the ancient human castles of old in its majesty and beauty, and in some factors exceeded it just by the fact it was built a mile below a mountain.

 

I could hear the muted tap of footsteps on stone as a _much_ taller figure came down the steps. I could see a brief shine of orange and blue, the king's face shadowed by darkness.

 

“Howdy.” The image of a brutal king was lost the moment he spoke and looked us in the eye. The tension in the air eased and I heaved a sigh of relief. I stepped up before either Frisk or Chara could. Most likely just to fuck with Chara. I lifted up my hand for a shake to a perplexed Asgore. He took it and I shook his hand.

 

“My name is Asgore Dreemurr.” I nodded and quietly told my name as did Frisk and Chara. He lifted up his arms as if to wave to the crowd that had built up.

 

“Listen well my people!” The entire crowd rose into a fever. “These humans have fallen down, yet they have never attempted to harm a monster! In fact this one.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and I coughed as the weight crushed it just a bit. “Has greeted me with open arms!” I supposed that was true, there was less reason to be afraid of monsters without the events that kickstarted the game.

 

The monsters started to cheer and I felt a flush rise as the crowd drunk us in. Frisk grinned openly, shyly waving to the crowd of monsters, there was a soft and affectionate smile from Chara that really lit up her entire face, a world of difference from her usual scowl.

 

“Please come along now…” The crowd dispersed as the door of castle shut behind us, likely the king wanted some information from us. We continued to walk until we stopped at what in another timeline would be a garden thrown room full to the brim with golden flowers. Unnoticed by me Asriel had placed a few chairs and a table so we could have a sit down with the king.

 

I fidgeted in my chair while the others stayed relaxed making me feel like the odd one out(I was going to say duck instead of one?!)  

 

“Tea?” I shook my head, not feeling in the mood to try something new.

 

“Water if you have it.” Asgore nodded and he politely poured me a glass from… _somewhere._ I gulped it down, feeling extremely thirsty all of a sudden. Chara and Frisk gladly took some tea, sipping in a polite fashion.

 

I felt ready to pass out as everything came crashing down on me. My mysterious fall, meeting Asriel, and Frisk, and then Toriel. My talk with the three formed time traveller's, telling them the truth of their world. Getting on that tram, arriving in the capital, meeting the king.

 

Oh _God_ I think I'm going to be sick…a gentle hand placed itself on my shoulder, lightly kneading and I felt my worries wash away as quiet voice hummed.

 

“It's going to be okay.” Frisk’s voice was the only point of calm in the maelstrom of confusion, fear, and sadness within my soul.  My family…I might be an adult but I…I'm not independent yet. I want them to be here…I. Frisk scooted over and I felt shudders as she wrapped her arms around me.

 

“I…”

 

“Shhh,” She shushed me up. “It's going to be okay. I…promise.” My shudders stopped and I felt myself relax for the first time in what felt like days but was only mere hours.

 

“Thanks…” I felt reluctance as she let me go but ignored the odd desire to hug her. “I needed that…”

 

“I _am_ so sorry.” I became flustered as the king humbly bowed his thanks begging for forgiveness. “I was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot to account for your own feelings.” I tried to wave him off but he wasn't having it. “Oh you must be all so confused.” Frisk tapped my back and I nodded to convince the king.

 

“Y-Yeah…what is this place?”

 

“Ah,” Asgore remained seated but there was suddenly resolve on his tone. “This is the Underground, the current home to the Kingdom of Monsters and rules my my wife and I. Asriel here.” The goat kid waved with a radiant smile. “Is our future heir once we retire. Again I'm sorry neither of us gave you a better explanation.” Toriel looked guilty and that was when I got an idea in my head.

 

“It's too bad Toriel didn't give me a…” I paused for dramatic effect much to Chara’s chagrin. “Tu-toriel!” I waved some jazz hands around for greater effect.

 

There was a blank expression on Asgore and Chara’s face while Toriel openly giggled. But Frisk…

 

“Heheheh!” Her laugh was loud and boisterous, but despite that I couldn't help but smile. She had a nice laugh…

 

The mood became more serious at the stony expression on the king's face. He looked almost pitying to us and I felt like I needed more information.

 

“I…did want to inform you…you must have heard the stories yes…of the spell used to trap us below.” They all nodded in response. “The Barrier cannot be crossed by humans or monsters, it requires _terrible_ circumstances for that to happen. One I don't want to personally witness.”

 

Hmm…

 

“I know you do not want to be trapped here. But for now, would it be alright if you can stay with us. Doctor G̼̖a̺̯̦͕̘s̮̙͓̭̮̘̣t̵e̝͜r.” I flinched as he used that name, a feeling of _oddness_ passing through wit-          that name. I remember, the mysterious W.D G-Gaster. “-has mentioned he has found a way to break the barrier, he says needs only a few short weeks and we will be free.”

 

I suppose we had no real reason to be here then…unless something was going to come up that was a potential danger. Which frankly wasn't too unlikely and we still had the issue of getting me home.

 

“I would ask a favor of you all.” I nodded, curious on what he wanted. “I want you to try to live among us monsters so we can learn more about each other, and to show my citizens that peace is really possible.” Frisk’s eyes lit up at the challenge, likely wanting to befriend the monsters all over again. I wasn't sure my socially awkward and abrasive ass could do that but I would try. The monsters are the only shot I got, whether our worlds were merged together or a portal opened up I _need_ to get home.

 

“I’ll do it, but don’t expect any miracles from me.” He gave me a grateful smile and patted my shoulder.

 

“Wait…but where are they going to live dad?” Asriel asking the real questions here.

 

“I thought they could cozy up with you in your new apartment.”

 

“Daddd! I can’t fit more than two people there!” Asriel groaned in the way teenagers do. You know what that sounds like right? Asgore mulled something over until a light bulb lit up over his head. Metaphorically of course.

 

“I remember there was another apartment next to it that was empty. Perhaps they can move there?”

 

“Hmm? That might work, but the paperwork will take like two days!” Toriel had the solution.

 

“They could stay over with W.Ds kids, his youngest is only a few years older than them. sans is a protective monster, and Papyrus will provide a warm welcome.”

 

That…would be nice, I feel like I’m running on fumes right now.

 

“So Chara was it? Please do be gentle with our Asriel.” Chara flushed red at Toriel’s insinuation and I realized that in this “Run” their closeness could be misconstrued as romantic attraction.

 

“Mom!”

 

“Now go off, I’ll get you some sleepwear for the night and you can go explore tomorrow.”

 

“FINE!”

 

This is going to be a _weird_ few weeks…

 

***

“HOW WONDERFUL SANS I HAVE EASILY WOWED THE HUMANS WITH MY CHARMS! DESPITE YOUR _TERRIBLE_ PUNS WE HAVE BECOME FRIENDS WITH THE TWO HUMANS THE KING AND QUEEN HAVE PUT IN OUR CARE!”

 

I had a stupid silly grin on my face as Papyrus stomped his way through his home. As did Frisk though I felt bitterness and self hatred leak through her smile. I didn't know how I knew that though, I shouldn't be good at analyzing someone's expression like that.

 

“yeah, forget about it Paps. at least none of them have… a _bone_ to pick with any of us.”

 

“SANS!!” Papyrus stomped into his room closing the door behind him leaving us alone with his older brother. The moment Papyrus was out of the room…

 

His easy smile dropped, and the atmosphere became suffocating as he glared at Frisk, though he kept an eye on me too.

 

“still toying with us aren't you? guess you really don’t know when to quit huh?” Frisk’s hand reached for sans and he gave her a frightening scowl. Guilt ran across her face and I felt like an intruder on this.

 

“I… _please_ I never wanted-”

 

“i’m not having any of your shit kid!” Frisk was whimpering and hot tears seemed to pour out of her eyes, dripping down onto the ground. “the moment you step out of line buddy.” The room turned dark, the only light that of sans eyes. I would have probably wet myself in fear if I had any liquid in my bladder.

 

“YOU’RE DEAD!” sans _popped_ away leaving us alone. Frisk sunk down to the floor, her body wracked with guilt.

 

“I’m so _sorry…_ I wanted a happy ending…I never should have done what I did!” My hands reached for her, but I didnt how to help someone with these kinds of problems.

 

“I…do you want to go to bed?” I offered my hand, despite my lack of social skills, I did have empathy. She nodded with an “mhmm” grabbing my hand so I could lift her up.

 

I helped her up to our temporary shared bedroom with two seperate beds. The only guestroom in the entire house. Sans had been uncharacteristically mad, though maybe the sheer number of RESETS got to him.

“Doesn't even realize I can’t reset like I used to…” I didn't know what she meant at the time. I closed the door behind us and sat down on the bed we democratically agreed was mine.

 

Because it was smaller mostly…

 

Frisk had wiped off her tears and was…taking off her shirt! While I had looked away, the pacific islander filipino mix had removed and folded both her sweater and an undershirt leaving her only in a black bra and shorts. Oh…jebus that sweater hid a _lot_ more than I was expecting.

 

Oh mama…

 

I snapped out of it as my embarrassment caught up with me. "FRISK DON’T TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF!” My voice had become girly and high pitched but I didn't give a flying fuck, She needed actual clothes.

 

“Just turn around.” She added a motion with her finger to add to her suggestion and I stiffly and instantly complied. I carefully ignored the shuffling of clothing and kept my breathing even and calm.

 

“Done!” I turned around, now having a better time meeting her eyes. She was using a black t-shirt and a pair of batman pajama shorts that did little to hide her leg and a-hem never mind. She grinned and pointed to me. “Your turn.”

 

My…

 

Oh…

 

“Duck under the covers _and_ turn around” Frisk giggled and complied with my orders to my relief.

 

…

 

I was left in the end with a similar black shirt and longer batman pants making us embarrassedly match. I crawled under the covers for warmth as the cold hit me. I stared at the ceiling for answers but found no solace in the glow in the dark stars studding the ceiling.

 

“Are you awake?” Frisk sounded impossibly tiny in that moment.

 

“I am.”

 

“Do you think everyone will forgive me for what I’ve done to them.”

 

A loaded question really…

 

“Papyrus will.” I heard the smile in her voice as she replied.

 

“Heh, yeah he will, he's just like that.” I could hear her breathing start to slow.  
  
“Uh,” She sounded painfully awkward. “Good night and…” I’m sorry for dragging you into a mess I created.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

…

 

…

 

What have I gotten myself into now?

 

***

 

"̹͎͙̺H̶̙o͘ẃ͎̪ ̯̗̰̦͇̠͉v͓͍̜̙̦̤̮e̜r͢y̢͕͙̥̼͔͇̟ ͝i̯̞̗n͔͓̪̩̻ṭ̢̯̞é̯͇͚̬̤̦̗r͎̬e̛͎͎͔̲̜s͘t̖ͅi̪͍͈͖͖̱̠͢ṋ͙̣g̣͖.̶̩͚̣ ̦͇I͉͖̳̲t͖̘̭ ̫͙̲̟̮̗ͅs̥͚͓̥̤̀e͓̟̠̞͎͈é̜̠̥m̭̹͔͙͔̼͍s̛͕͉̳̩̩ ͏̲̣͉͔̪̗t̙̫̮̭͞ͅẖe̗̣͓̮ ̟̣͉̞̜f̡̩͕̳a͏̖l̡̯͎̺̘l̖e͖̠̱̖͓͜n͍̗ ͏͙͙̟c̸̫ḩ̰i̩̼͍̩̟͔͎l̻̜d̳͚̘͈͍ͅre̢̙̲̠͉̫̦n̫̜̣̬͎ ̷̯̖̹͖h̢͈͕͔͉a̙v͈̳̠͎͔̲͖͡e͏̱͇̗̠ ̠͟b̗͝ṛ̟̠̬̥o̼̳̤̬͍̺̺͜u̗͕͔̝̻͍g̛h̩͠t̥͚̥͕̭̮͉̀ ̻͈̥̖͙̰a͕̗̝̠ ̥̻̠f̧̳̮͎͍͔r̵̼i͇̗͔͓̝̪̖ḙ͔̠̻̬̬̥͘n̪̼̜d̵͉̥͔͙̞̟.̺̥͎"̜͔̬

 

“...”

 

"̝ͅY̲͍̺͖e̸͔͔̫̲s͈͎̳͖ͅ ҉͔̙̘I ̷k̹͚̪͉̦͔͟n̝͍̲̹͚̲̯o̲̹̬͇̙̖w̻̯̹̳̪̤͕͞ ̠͓̙̹̘͡th̫e͇͇̖y̴̭̱̬̦͖̤̦ ̤̲̼͡ͅar̭̜͓̗͎ͅe̱n͏'t̶ n̜̤͉̱̞̲̙e͙̼͎̭̻̗̱͘ẹ̬̬̰͙̀d̷e͇̳̹̱d̸̹̝ ̹̞̺̳͔̙̥a͉̩n͍͚͔y̭̣͚͢m̝̮͕͕̤o̼r̗͕̠͈̬̳͜e̡̻̮͈͍͓̟.͏̣̺̼"͚̟̩͍̕ͅ

 

“...”

 

"͚̬̘͎̱̘B̸͈̝͙u̠͉t̵̬̬̘̗ͅ,͇̣̱̼͙ ̯̼̥̭̻̝̠w̤̹̗̫i̞̞̰̜̲͞țh̼̙̫̖́ ͖͓ͅt̫̹̮͎̭h̜̪̲e̸̬̭̫m̤͙̳͇ ̺͎͟I̦̗̝̤̦̭̦ ̻̦̳͕̠̥͚d̼̯͚̖̯͈͝ó̺̩n͈̞̕ͅ'̖̀t͇̗ ͏̪̹̣̜̹̩͕n̤͈̼̤̱͇̰e͎͍ed̕ ̩t͙̀ͅo͎̟ ri̬̹̭̫͎p̴̝̟̠̖̱̣̞ ̫̞̥a͉̞̳̯n̷͓̯̗̺y͍͚̟͎̲̩͖o̻̬̩ne͏̭̰̯̣̟'̤̩͖̫̙͈͕s͖̝͉̪̣͜ ̞̰̻̮͚sòul̬̗̖ ̢̰̪̺̪̭̩̩o͎͖̠̦̟ụ̘͓͉̮̘͉t͢.̮̟̲͙͜ ͕̣̖̼̭E̟v͍͖͙̯e̠͉̼̗n̙ i̗̳̦͚͕ͅf̺̘͓͕͡ͅ ͇̠̟͘ͅi̛͇̭̟̺̲̥̻t̨̜̻ ҉i̱͓̰s̸n͈̱̫͙̜͞'̲̘̳̮͢t͙͔ ͏̠̣̻p͟e̛̙̫̣̦͓͓͙r͇͘m̼͇͈͖̥a̘͓͕̣ne̴̼̼̪n̻̤̙̩̥t̛̙̭.̖̯̠ ̦͝I͘t̨̜̰̞s̮̮͟ ͍̝s̞͓̲̭t̯͉͚̲̭̕i̖̖̼͍̟̩̜l̹̻͇̰̳̘l͞ ͚̥a̮̫͍ ̤t͉r̖̟̀a̧̟̺̙̺͈̗̪u̼̗m͖͔͔̰͟a̵̬̬̮t̺̫͢ͅi͓̜͚ͅc̜̤͉̫͍͍͡ ̨̖͓̫̲͓e̻͖͡x͇̖ṕ̹̪̩͙̳̻e͞ͅr͈̝͉̠͔̭ͅi͍e̙̤͜n̷͍̺͎̻̺̝͉c͙͙̙͞e̝͍͈̺̦̹̰.̨͙̟̦̞͖"̩̟̟͈̞

͎̱̘̘͓̪̬

 

“...”

 

"̙̕D̩o̼̖͖͔̙̯n̷̗̙̙̞̞̗̱'̡̭̭̣t̜̹ ͘ḁ͉͈̩̰̟c͍͓̳̥͈͢t̷̳͍̯̝ ̳̱̮͚̘͇͍l͍͇̖͎͢i͔̳̱̳͓k̫ḙ̞͇̤͙̦̹ ͎̲͔̖̰̙ͅI͔̮̮̹̣̯'̝͕m̵͔̖̣ͅ ̴̗̭̳t̺̞̥̻h͎̀e̼̞̩͔̫͕ͅ ̘͉̫͎͜b̸a̬̯̖̫̭͈ͅd̸̫̹̤̠̫͉̣ ̢̙̰̮̲̥̘ͅg̯̲̙ųͅy͚̜̦̤ ͍̻̝̙̩̭͉h͏͕̜e̳̥̫͔r̫̝̰̫͍̰͖e̺̰͟,̗͉̲̤̥ ̼̺̺͖́y̡̪o͚͔̻͍͖ͅu̫̞̗ ̰͓̝̹͔͢a͙̲̭͍̼͘l̼̼̖̠̠͘ĺ͉̥ g͙a̝͖͢v̙̱͉e͏̝̱̬̰̜ ̬̣̬̟̬̰u̖̗͢p̨̹̲̲̣͍͍ ̡̼͔ͅy̥̫̜̼o̤u͖͕͓̬͚̟r̡͙͖̱̖̘̖ ̬̯̙S̪͕̠͉O̢Ú̼͈̻̼̭ͅLS͟ ̡̲̪̗̟̝͓o͔̮̼̼n̨̝͇̖̬͎c͚̗e̤̜̟̤̩ ͟y͏͕o̴̙ú̹̮͔͉̲̙̭r̴̦̣̝͓ ̶̫̯̲͕ͅn̻̝a̝͎ṭ̼̫̘u̸̗r̠͔̟̞͎͉͟a̳͔̭l͚̻̫ ̨l̨͍͕͉-̷̣̥͔̬ ̵͖͔̝͖̬͓e͚̗̮̮x̢͓̺p̘͎̠̫̘̬i̻̯͔̠̙ŗ̠͍̱ͅé͉̬͚͇͙͕d̸̠.̢̤ ͚ͅIf̖͉͇̮̦̀ ̠̬͇̜͚̳͉y̥̲͓͎͎̫ou͖̙ ͔͈w̧̬͚̹͈̭a̳̟̖̼͇͞n̰͙̺̦͓͎̳͞t҉̞ ̤a̢̪̫̺ t҉͉͎h̜a͕n̺̳k̲͎͙͍̳͝ ͕͇̬͝y̮͍̣̺̘̥ͅo̡̯ų̣ ̷͈j̼̜͉͔u͖̜̘̜͈ͅs̡̩̣t ̤̮a̼̹̗̬ṣ̣ͅk̦̭̳.͕͖͚̥̕"͠

 

“...”

 

"I҉̻͎̦̬̫ͅͅ ̻͔̯͡h̰̪̰o̡̭͍̲p̦̪͎͘e͈̣̙ ͕͔̱̮̭̰̼͜s̹o̢ ͕̮̩t͎̥̫̕o͙ͅͅo̖͍̬̻̖̼.͔̯͚̰̻̠̼͘    

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I doubt many remember this particular project of mine, but I’m still getting it done. I have another three chapters on the way and will be periodically updating them once every two weeks, though in this case it’s only a week.
> 
> I’m starting back up on updating some of my stories on here, since one of them has up to nine chapters built up, and it shouldn’t be left waiting.

**Chapter Two: A Breakfast** **_Date_ ** **and a** **_Chara_** **cter Building Moment**

 

I woke up in a daze…the ceiling confusing and unfamiliar.

 

What was I doing? Why was I here? I don't remember spending time anyones hou-

 

Everything came flooding back and I groaned waking up the _other_ inhabitant in the room. Frisk moaned and groaned and moved around in her sleep as she slowly woke up.

 

“Whhhhyyy.” Her voice was teeny as she forcibly woke herself up. She threw off the blanket leaving her her in her pj's. She brushed back her messy matted hair with both of her hands. I could see a hint of drool at the edge of her lip.

 

Not exactly an angel when she sleeps huh?

 

I sniffed at the noxious odor that seemed to be emanating from the door of the room. I had my horrified suspicions that was Papyrus making his food and I felt like my death by food poisoning was soon approaching.

 

“Uh…Frisk?” Her eyes opened wide at my hesitant greeting and she stood straight up, planting her feet on the cold floor. She shivered as her feet made contact, and with her eyes closed put her feet within some type of slipper. Her mouth opened in a yawn, covering it up with her left hand.

 

“W-What o-oh heeyyyy buddy…” She drawled out a sleepy greeting and I remained confused as she placed her hand on my head. She patted it, and I didnt know how to feel about this. I grabbed her hand once she started to touch my face.

 

“Stop it.” To wake her up I grabbed _her_ face patting it a few times to wake her up. Based on her look the expression on my face was _not_ amused.

 

“Mmm sorry…” She mumbled with embarrassment. I let go and then the door was kicked open.

 

“GOOD MORNING HUMANS! IT'S A LOVELY DAY OUTSIDE! DO YOU WANT SOME BREAKFAST PREPARED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” I felt ill at the thought and scrambled to think up of an excuse.

 

“Uh, actually I'd like to eat out.” at his expression I added my finishing consolation. “We should try out the food the Underground has to offer right? We have our mission to befriend the monsters from Asgore and we should get out onto the world as fast as possible right? Besides you should always leave the best for last.” Frisk looked amused, while Papyrus looked suitably convinced.

 

“WHY THAT MAKES AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF SENSE HUMAN! NOW I SHALL LEAVE YOU SO YOU CAN CHANGE!”

 

Of course…

  
  


We were now entering Snowdin which was apparently one of dozens of small towns dotting the snowy area of the Underground, though it was the largest and the most well known. Apparently around a thousand monsters lived here while the rest were half the size and off the beaten path.

 

For the cold weather I wore a green and blue striped sweater with a thick sans-esque jacket on top of that. A set of thick grey pants added to my hypothermia protection. Little Friskus wore her usual sweater on top of a jacket of the same color, and had dark brown pants to keep out the cold or protect her from nicks against sharp things.

 

sans was accompanying us with an odd look on his face. The awkward silence was frankly suffocating and I _really_ wanted to leave. Both remained silent and I really hoped one of them would say something, say _anything_ or I would scream.

 

“i…” The skeleton was the first to begin. “sorry…about the things I said.” He did sound genuinely apologetic about it. “i was confused, angry, it blinded me. you don't want to hurt anyone…i can tell.”

 

The only girl in the group tightened her hood to blockout the cold. “It's fine…I deserve it.”

 

Yikes man. That is some _serious_ issues.

 

“maybe…but i should be better.” I pressed my fingers together unsure of what to say.

 

“Um…breakfast?” I ignored the stares from them, and I looked around for something to eat. That was about when I smacked into someone.

 

“Oww…” I looked to find that I had bumped into Monster Kid. Honestly a part of me expected that he would be older. The kids eyes lit up and upon closer inspection he _was_ older than before. But I would put him around 15 years old, and about the same height as me. Possibly taller but I couldn't tell.

 

“Hey?” I waved politely hoping he would leave.

 

“Hey you guys aren't kids right? I mean neither am I really…I just like striped shirts but still…” Frisk and I shook our heads, and his question made me realize I had no idea how old she was. The small monster bounded over to us with excitement. “My name is Monster Kid!” I gave him a grin, and then we told him ours names in exchange.

 

“You know we're human right? Why are you being so friendly to us?” I wanted to know why he was friendly despite this knowledge.

 

“Because you haven't hurt anybody. And you don't push me away like the adults usually do…” He sounded a little sheepish as he finished his sentence.

 

“You're a pretty cool kid aren't you?” MK _beamed_ and his sheer exuberance made me look away. A quick glance of Frisk and I could tell she was a little happier than a few minutes ago.

 

MK shuffled closer and whispered. “Hey um…do you think it would be cool if you guys could come along with me to meet Undyne?”

 

That could clear up any misunderstandings and I don't mind befriending the boisterous(terrifying) fish monster.

 

“Uh,” Frisk gestured me to go on ahead. “Sure just give us some time to get breakfast and we'll be there.” Monster Kid _beamed_ a second time _._ Frisk waved goodbye and the small monster skipped off. I stiffened as Frisk grabbed my hand tightly, the girl pulling me to some place. I relaxed as we reached what looked like the Snowdin Shop but expanded into a full on restaurant.

 

Frisk held on tighter as we drew closer and a part of me wanted to retract my hand out of embarrassment if nothing else. Maybe I should ask… my

 

“Umm could you let go?” Frisk gave me a smile and shook her head. Her grip only tightened and I did my best to ignore the hammering in my chest.

 

“Do you _want_ me to let go? You’re holding on pretty tight?” I grumbled but couldn’t deny that it felt kind of…nice. She poked my nose with a cheeky grin and I groaned.

 

Cheeky little…well not _little…_

 

“We’re here!” I took my hand back as Frisk opened the door to the restaurant/Shop. She froze as a realization came to her. She sagged and rubbed her belly with the saddest expresion I had ever seen. “We don’t have any money!”

 

Oh jeez that look can _easily_ be weaponized!

 

My eyes glanced toward sans and he gave me a wink before tapping Frisk’s back. “no problem there buddy i’ve got a _skele_ ton of money.” He held the G in his hand and I held back a snort at well, the honestly terrible joke. Her expression practically lit up the room and she quietly thanked sans before gently taking the money out of his phalanges.

 

The store section looked very much the same as in the game but it opens up into a full on diner, reminding me of a Denny’s. I coughed politely as the bustling shop stood still at our arrival. I turned to sans hoping he could break the ice, but he was gone.

 

I’d never felt more awkward in my life as the about two dozen monsters looked on curiously. I looked over to Frisk for guidance and she pointed to her lips in a smile.

 

_Ok sure._

 

I smiled hesitantly toward the monsters and greeted them. “Uh h-hi?”

 

Rather awkwardly I would say…

 

Their initial nervousness faded away at my response and I was greeted with polite and almost happy tones. Much better than the silence of before.

 

“Hey there!” My eyes darted over the form of the bunny shopkeeper as she came up to us. Frisk took a few steps forward, pushing her frame into me. I ignored it as best as I could, my hungry stomach urging me to go on. The bunny placed both of her hands on her hips giving us a friendly smile. “You folk look like you need some food in your bellies.”

 

My stomach rumbled in response and Frisk chuckled.

 

“I’ve got a good seat right over here.” The bunny women showed us to a small booth fit for four people. Frisk gestured to the seat and I sat down, my peace was lost quickly as she brushed up to me with a wide grin. The little mix for as close as she could and I flushed as the bunny girl gave me a knowing look.

 

“Good thing I gave you the private booth huh?”

 

God dammit Frisk why can’t you be a normal girl… _person._ I have no idea what her pronouns could be. But…whatever

 

“Please don’t.” Frisk leaned forward and I practically smacked my head into the table as I felt her… _assets_ on my back. “Frisk I would like for you to keep a minimum distance of half a meter.”

 

Frisk pouted. “No…how about 1 centimeter?”

 

I quirked a brow. “25 centimeters.”

 

She snapped her fingers with her counteroffer. “5 centimeters?”

 

“12 centimeters?” She ventured.

 

Hmm…

 

“Fine go ahead.” My heartbeat slowed down as the space between us grew to a more reasonable amount.

 

“Ready to order now honey?” There was a teasing twinkle in the shopkeepers eye and I said yes to her question. The older monster passed a menu to each of us and I hummed as I thought of what to get.

 

Cinnabunny definitely…I want to give it a try.

 

Eggs and ham? How they’d get that down here? But yeah I’ll think I’ll have some of that. They have orange juice too? I told the last as such or what I wanted and she took Frisk’s order next.

 

“I want the pancake with hash browns and chocolate milk.” The rabbit scribbled the order into her notebook and bid us a brief farewell.  

 

I leaned my head back against the cushions and sighed. Frisk leaned in slightly l, a curious look etching her face. She seemed to want something and I wasn’t too sure what it was. It’s not like I would know being shit at social interactions due to Aspergers, deciphering someone’s thoughts isn’t the easiest task for me.

 

“Do we want to be friends?” My head twisted to meet her eyes and I didn’t have any words to the blunt nature of Frisk’s question. After a few moments I got my bearings and replied back.

 

“That’s a pretty abrupt way to ask someone.” Frisk shrugged turning her body and dropping an elbow onto the table, supporting her face with her right arm.

 

“Meh…I think it’s better just to get it out in the open. And I think you need a friend or two right now.” She wasn’t wrong. And frankly being friends with a _beautiful_ women wasn’t a half bad situation…

 

Why’s she blushing? Did…did I say that out loud? Oh dear, that is…actually kind of great. She’s _really_ cute when she blushes and stutters like that.

 

“So I…” I trailed off scratching my beard and swallowing some saliva. “I guess that’s my answer Frisk. In fact I think I’ll say it right here.” I lifted up my hand and with a raised eyebrow she took it.

 

“Um?”

 

“It’s _ice_ to meet you. I never thought I’d become friends with such a _frisky_ person though.” Her eyes lit up at the weak puns and she laughed.

 

Huh, I made a pretty girl laugh…yay me?

 

“Meh… _tibia_ honest _bone_ fide bone puns are more my style. Though Papyrus is probably going to have a _bone_ to pick with me for that.”

 

Hehehe…

 

Her smile become softer though her eye began to dart nervously back and forth across my face. It still looked like she had questions. It was a little nerve wracking actually, I’m not used to be being put on a microscope by one person this much. Maybe she wanted to get to know me more personally? Like if I have any family, my interests etcetera.

 

“So you want to get to know me is that right?” She nodded with her eyes sparkling. Kind of off putting actually, I’m not the most interesting person. Then again if she’s been RESETing for so long getting to know a person for the first time again might be more exciting.

 

I suppose I could oblige her desire.

 

“Right well I’m Brandon as you already know.” The small comfortable smile on her face, made me wonder if she was the Stepford smiler type. “I’m a Mexican American from the sunny state of California. I have two young brothers, two parents and a number of cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents.” I saw a brief flutter of sadness in her eyes at the mention of my family.

 

“Got it, anything else? You know likes, dislikes?” My body perked up on its own as her interest became more clear.

 

“Right well…I like science a lot. Specifically in biology as well as more mechanical sciences.” A smile pulled at my face and my feet moved of their own accord as my excitement grew. “In fact I’m currently going to community college so I can transfer to a UC and become a genetic engineer! I want to learn more about the building blocks of life. To create and mold it to my will! I could make bacteria that clean up oil spills, wipe out malaria, make drought-resistant plants. Turn chickens into dinosaur like creatures!” By manipulating Hox genes and reviving atavistic traits like teeth or tails.

 

Why are her eyes so big and wide? I blinked away, and felt my body stiffen as my nose booped Frisk. I had ended up invading her space in my outburst by accident. I sat back down with a small clearing of the throat. “Uh sorry about that I just…I’m really passionate about science.”

 

Frisk waved me off, understanding on her face. “Ehh don’t worry bout it. You’re a lot like a certain _lizard monster._ ” She whispered with a conspiratorial tone. Her smirk was positively _wicked._ “In _fact_ I think it’s rather cute how your gush about what interests you.”

 

So Frisk is just as much a flirt as the Fandom portrayed her as. But it was a bit of a fresh of breath air. Someone _flirting_ with me is a new experience even if I know she’s only messing with me. But it didn’t stop the red flowing into my ears…

 

“So how about you?” Her expression darkened at my sudden question and I internally slapped myself as I must have hit a hard topic. She looked guilty as she read _my_ expression.

 

“Well…” She twiddled her thumbs and I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she made up her mind. “I…mmm” she bit her lip before coming to a conclusion, letting out a deep breath. “I don’t really have as much or _any_ family as you do.” Why does the Fandom have to have their head cannons proven correctly. “I lived in an orphanage in a _really bad_ place. I didn’t have much of _any_ life and the people who took care of me… _weren’t_ good people.” Her eyes widened at the last bit like it was something she didn’t mean to say.

 

Before she could utter another word I stopped her, and going against my shy nature grabbed her hand. “You don't have to say anything else. We can talk about something else! L-Like uh my favorite color is green what’s yours?” My questioning was panicky and nervous my guilt clouding my logic. Her melancholy was stopped in its tracks by my half-assed reversal, a completely dumbfounded and _amused_ look rising up.

 

“O-Oh it’s blue.” She fidgeted a bit under my scrutiny and I felt a little better that she was just as awkward as I was. “Um…if it’s fine with you my favorite food is pie.” My lips twitched in an almost grin at the mention of the confection.

 

“Well I don’t have a favorite food but I do _really_ like spaghetti.” She nodded and inched a little closer. I would have said something but at this point there’s nothing I can do to stop her.

 

“Well you kids seem to be getting along.” The shopkeeper had brought two plates with each of our respective orders. I held back the saliva as I hadn’t eaten since yesterday. I dug into the well cooked food, and shuddered as the food practically _melted_ in my throat, it dropped down and I was invigorated in an instant.

 

“Yahh!” Frisk answered for us with a fluffy pancake hanging from her mouth. Her look reminded me of a puppy and I glanced away to finish the filling food.

 

“Good, call me if you need anything else!” The bunny monster left us to attend to her other customers though she was stopped by a tap from Frisk. Her nose was wrinkled and she cocked her head to a centrally placed wrinkly brown fruit in question. The bunny smirked at Frisks look. “Well I thought since this was a _date_ that this fruit would match the occasion.”

 

Date…oh it’s a joke… _wait._

 

“We’re not on a date lady.” The monster women shrugged and sauntered away with a bemused look. Frisk had a blank and passive expression on her face and I rolled my eyes at the older monsters antics.

 

“You done?” I stared down to find my breakfast had been inhaled in my haste and I nodded, scratching an itch on my arm.

 

Huh?!

 

Within moments Frisk had wrapped her right arm around me, picking me up and leaping off of the table in a show of athletic ability.

 

I squirmed but Frisk only tightened her grip on me before… OH GOD JUMPING OUT OF AN OPEN WINDOW!

 

“ONWARD TO WATERFALL BEST BUDDY!”

 

NOOOO!!

 

“I hate you _sooo_ much right now.” I mumbled into a patch of soft tall grass keeping my distance from Frisk as she settled down.

 

After her run we had ended up in Waterfall which was larger and wetter than I was expecting. It was a rather good thing these sweaters were magic or else I’d be soaked.

 

“Meh…it’s not so bad best buddy.” A broad grin showed her excitement despite nearly giving me a heart attack.

 

“How…how are you running so fast.” Oh let me guess.

 

_Handwave._

 

“ _~Magic~_ ” We both did the handwave with a small smile and my nausea started to die down. But now I had questions on magic, actually can _I_ use magic? I mean I’ve fallen down into the Underground it should be possible right?

 

I picked myself up from off the ground, being careful to not slip on a wet patch of grass. I mulled over how to word this but decided to just go right out and say it.

 

“How do you use magic?” I gave her a hopeful expression and her hands curled up. Frisk didn’t look mad, just caught off guard.

 

“Oh! I didn’t expe—.” She coughed and nodded in affirmation to my query. “It’s pretty simple but since this is new for you we’ll start small OK?” I stepped forward with a small bounce in my step.

 

“Yes.”

 

Frisk _beamed_ at my readiness. “Now lift up your hand.” I obeyed her instruction, my hand palm up as well. “Concentrate as best as you can. Focus all your energy, all your hopes and dreams into the palm of your hand and _breathe out._ ”

 

That sounded simple enough…

 

_Okay breathe._

 

Think about it…what do _I_ want? What are my hopes and dreams for the future?

 

As I focused a strong _surge_ lifted up my spirits. I felt free and hopeful, all those negative emotions set aside for this one goal. Finally one hope, one Dream together sprung up from the deepest recesses of my SOUL.

 

_I want to learn more._

 

“Look…” Frisk’s voice was soft and I opened up my eyes. I marveled at the warm purple glowing light in the palm of my hand. It resembled a small glowing star, or maybe a flame? It’s form seemed to shift back and forth. My fingers tried to grip the flame, but they slid past the massless object. Frisk snapped out of it and pointed to the light. “Now uh focus that _energy_ into and out of your chest.” This time it came much easier and instead of a flame a purple colored heart floated from my chest.

 

“This is _amazing._ ” Frisk rubbed her chin as she examined my SOUL, and her right eye started to glow. I stood in place, curious to see what she was doing. For an entire minute I was completely still until Frisk let out a humm of approval.

 

“Not bad for a beginner. You’ve got 68 HP, a DEF of 1, and an ATK of 2.” For a brief instant Frisk sounded like her goat mother, and it was rather adorable. “Now I want you to use CHECK on me. That’s among the simpler Magic’s to learn and it’ll be good experience.”

 

Check? Oh right that…

 

“Come on…I don’t mind you _looking._ ” I snorted as her tone turned suggestive and focused on something else.

 

Right let’s CHECK! Wait wha?!

 

That was easier than I expected. Now let me see…

 

*** FRISK — ATK 4 DEF 3**

*** Fallen Angel.**

*** Feels broken inside.**

 

I flinched as did Frisk and the CHECK on her ended abruptly.

 

“You don’t need to say a single word. Let’s just pretend that nothing happened alright?” Frisk nodded and glanced away as she looked at something behind me. A large shadow blocked out the light and I twisted on my heels, lowering into a _terrible_ combative stance.

 

I felt the blood drain from my face as the just over eight foot tall figure of _Undyne_ towered over the both of us. Fortunately for the integrity of my pants she wasn’t wearing her helmet, leaving me with a nice view to look at instead of a terrifying faceless monster.

 

My unease faded quickly as _three_ familiar faces popped up from behind the Royal guard captain. On Undyne’s right a beaming Monster Kid was giving us a silly grin. On her left were the two royal siblings(in another timeline) each of them with a confused look on their face.

 

Frisk flushed and became excited as she made eye contact with a smirking Chara.

 

“I guess you’re really getting to know each other now huh?” There was a sarcastic lilt in Chara’s voice as she replied. I nearly bit out an angry retort until I looked into her eyes.

 

Her eyes are really pretty like shining rubies…

 

NO FOCUS!

 

“Uh…Hi?” I winced as my voice cracked, and I had the brief urge to deepen my voice. I nearly winced at the sour look on goat-boys face, as I may…or may not have been checking out his sister…

 

“...So you’re the humans right?” Undyne was boisterous and loud with no tone of unsubtle menace behind it. In fact she seemed outright friendly to us.

 

“Howdy!” Frisk freed herself from her previous stupor and skipped over to our resident fish warrior. “I’m Frisk, and this is…” I kept my cool when Frisk placed her arm over my shoulders, pulling me into her space. “Brandon!” I waved and held back a panicked feeling at Undyne’s wild grin.

 

“Names Undyne! I’m the captain of the Royal Guard if you haven’t heard.” We nodded as a sign of us listening and she continued with her introduction. “Monster Kid told me he wanted us to meet. Saying you guys are were ‘awesome and cool’ and that he’d love it if we hung out.” Monster Kid nodded his head with each sentence that Undyne spoke.

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say. “I’ve never really met someone who _isn’t_ human so uh I hope I don’t offend you by mistake.”

 

Maybe that was a little much.

 

Undyne grinned. “It’s nice to get some respect around here but you don’t need to worry. Unless you _break_ the law you should be fine.” She pointed in the direction of the inhabited section of Waterfall. “So punks if you want to hang out my house is right over there.” We followed her clawed finger and I gave her a thumbs up.

 

“Hey I thought you'd get to hang out with them now.” MK protested with a small pout on his face.

 

Undyne patted his head with apology in her eyes. “Yeah sorry kiddo but I still have some patrolling to do, and that _other_ human wants to talk to them in private.” Chara gave me a creepy smile, her eyes focused on me.

 

If anyone asks I did not squeal in fear! There’s no proof you hear!

 

“Besides it means you can tag along with me on my patrol and I’ll show you how it’s done!” MK jumped up in excitement and I almost awwed at how adorkable he was.

 

“Yeah,” he turned to us with a small smile. “Sorry dudes I want to help you out with the puzzles but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t miss it!”

 

“Nah it’s okay we’ll see ya when we see ya.” A few seconds later and only the four of us were left. Chara eyes followed us with an unreadable look.

 

“So you’re getting all buddy-buddy with a human _partner?_ ” I grit my teeth at the disdain in the fallen child’s voice. “I didn’t really expect you to be into small, chubby and useless.” My fists tightened up into balls at the insult, and I held back a sharp retort. I _hated_ fighting and arguing with a passion, especially over _useless_ shit. All it did was put me in a bad mood, and leaves me irritable and frustrated for no gain of any kind.

 

“You don’t have to be so mean Chara.” The red eyed girl scoffed, her icy stare burning its way into my memory.

 

“Why _shouldn’t_ I? He’s a fucking human Frisk. Who cares what he think?”

 

That…I’ve never wanted to punch a girl in the face this much before. Another first for me then.

 

“I haven’t done anything to you! Why are you being such a bitch!” I clamped my mouth shut at the expletive, blinking away confusion at the uncharacteristic lapse. Frisk looked shocked and worried and she was right to be so as Chara pulled me into the air by my shirt.

 

Chara snarled with held back rage. “You said it yourself didn’t you? You’re a PLAYER, you’ve manipulated this world since day one. You used us like your little puppets for your own amusement!”

 

”Well _excuusee_ me Princess! In my world this place _is_ just a game. It’s not _my_ fault the multiverse actually exists, and I that I got dropped here.” Her eyebrows twitched at my pissed off tone. “And for the record I only finished the Pacifist route, I’ve never even tried the opposite end.”

 

“Well…if you were _sooo_ innocent then why are you here?” She talked over me, and I felt white hot rage start to boil over. “You’re here because you almost certainly would have gone _genocide_ one day so the world decided to take away y—.”

 

I saw _red._

 

“Fuck!”

 

I dropped to the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented. I gripped my head, gritting my teeth as I got a pounding headache.

 

Wait…did I…

 

“You headbutt me you stupid son of a b—.” Asriel growled and shut his sister up, covering her hand with his paw. “Lem me tadlk Azz—mhmmm” any further words were cut off as Asriel tightened his grip.

 

The prince gave me a look and nodded understandably. I picked myself up, standing on unbalanced feet.

 

Chara brushed some blood from her lip staring me down with an intense look. “Lucky shot _human._ ”

 

I snorted condescendingly. “You do remember that you’re a human right you self righteous cunt?” Frisk’s jaw dropped and I had no damn clue where I got the balls.

 

“Ooo the human’s got some fire in him.” She was mocking me openly, her smile splitting her face.

 

“Fuck you!” She stepped forward and I stomped her foot _hard._

 

“GAHH!!” I smiled openly as I walked off to a small clear canal of water to cool off.

 

Watching Chara dance on one foot _did_ put a smile on my face.

 

Bitch…

 

(Chara’s POV)

 

“Fucking wanker…” I muttered hatefully as that tiny devilish dag stormed off deeper into Waterfall. Frisk turned on me immediately and—

 

_OWW_

 

“Bloody hell Frisk, what did I do?!” The slightly taller women tsked, a disappointed look sending a tinge of _something_ into my…heart I suppose?

 

“ _Why_ are you being such a bitch?!” She looked completely pissed and I didn’t understand why she was so angry. It’s just some stupid human, like I said who cares?! “He hasn’t done anything to you. He’s just a victim caught up in problems of our own making.”

 

“I don’t care!” Frisk pursed her lips and squared her shoulders.

 

“I’m going to _make_ you care. He’s a good guy, a little shy and awkward but then I wasn’t so different either. And he _likes_ monsters.”

 

“Only because of that damn game _mate._ ” I growled in frustration as my Australian upbringing feared its bloody head. “He’s almost certainly not going to give a real shit about _any_ monster.”

 

“You know…he _was_ checking Undyne out.” Not your best counter partner.

 

“Then he’s a human with a fetish.” I flatly and confidently countered her.

 

“He isn’t Chara. He’s nervous, confused and afraid. And let me be _very_ frank with you. He’s more afraid of _you_ than he is of any of the monsters. Angry too, and that’s against me and you.” I scoffed and tried to walk the other way before that dang Pacifist grabbed me by the shoulder, forcing me to stay in place. “And who could blame him? We took _everything_ from him, and you know that.”

 

I don’t care… He’s a human, he’ll turn on us at any moment just like everyone else. He’ll ask for a little “favor” for being so nice. I can’t trust him, I won’t trust him. I…

 

“Come here…” I was dragged along by the younger women, and we stopped at a corner, where I could see the boy pacing near the water. He looked pretty angry, and I could see he was shaking.

 

“What exactly are—.”

 

“Shhh!” I stopped when Frisk placed her finger on my lip. I tilted my head, straining my ears for a closer listen. The boy was muttering to himself and I held back my disgust.

 

“I don’t understand how someone _that_ hot can be so god damn mean. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

 

H-He thinks I’m hot? S-Shut up with that stupid smug smirk of yours Frisk, this only proves my theory. Br—the human was slowing down visibly, whatever possessed him to stand up to me finally leaving his system. He was sweating visibly and there was a sick, green feeling settling in my stomach. He was staring at his reflection with his face contorting into a sad and depressed look.

 

“I…don’t want to be here. I want to be back home. Frisk is _really_ nice and so are all the monsters but…it’s not the same.” Frisk’s expression has darkened and I felt…discontented. “I miss them…I might be an adult but I…this is too drastic a change for me. And getting to meet two lovely ladies doesn't make up for losing _everything._ ”

 

I-Is…is he crying?

 

I…shouldn’t feel bad, humans aren’t…humans aren’t.

 

“Please…let this be just a bad dream…”

 

I froze.

 

I finally understood what I was feeling.

 

Guilt.

 

Am I…really feeling guilty for some random bloke now? And a human at that. But I guess…I have been heaping loads of shit on him for no reason.

 

“Can you at least try to be understanding?” Asriel spoke up and I looked down at my hands. My eyes traced the criss-cross of old scars adorning my arms like ugly tattoos. I pursed my lips, watching the sight of the human breaking down with what seemed like an iron weight in my gut.

 

“I…can only promise to try.” I ignored my burning cheeks as my little cinnamon rolls _beamed_ in happiness. My hands curled into fists at the noticeable strain, likely the memories of what they’ve done is still in the back of their minds.

 

It’s all my fault…I had a good thing going with the Monsters. They cared for me… _loved_ me more than anyone had ever loved me before. Despite my quirks, my defects and mistakes. No matter what I…I did…they loved me. And what I did…destroyed any hope they had.

 

I had let my hate consume me…I had become what I hated most.

 

“I…” had a second chance here, the mistakes of the past never came to pass. No sacrifice needed to be made, no plan. I might never get my old life back, but this…might be enough.

 

And if I have a new start…I should reach out right? Maybe Frisk wouldn’t have to be my only human friend. And he’s—

 

“Nice.” My head turned abruptly and I almost got whiplash. Frisk barked a laugh at my befuddled face. “Come on now Chara, I got a good read on his little SOUL when I was teaching him.” I tilted my head, my curiosity conveyed through the simple body motion. “Well he’s kind of a jack of all trades, he’s got mainly Perseverance but he can use every magic cept Bravery and Patience which makes sense.”

 

“Didn’t think you had the will to disparage him.” I said, cocking my hip with a smirk.

 

Frisk shrugged sheepishly. “It’s not that bad…he’s still braver than the _average_ human, it’s the Patience he’s lacking in.” If his pacing was anything to stand by, she’s definitely right on the money.

 

“I’ll think I’ll go apologize…”

 

 _“_ That would be for the best.”

 

I took a single step before fidgeting for a bit. I hoped I didn’t regret this.

 

“Uh…would…it be okay if I took over his magic training for now?” Frisk blinked several times at my _completely_ innocuous question. “I-I mean I have the most experience with magic and if he has _five_ magical affinities. I reckon I can teach him a thing or two.”

 

Don’t give me that look Frisk or I’ll…do nothing.

 

“Go ahead, nothing’s stopping you.”

 

Yeah…let’s do this…maybe we can talk over tea later?

 

“Good luck!”

 

I hope this this does well.

 

(My POV)

 

I looked at my reflection for the first time in a while.

 

I was always told I looked a lot like my dad and I could really see it in my reflection. Though my head was slightly rounder and my cheeks fuller.

 

The same oval shaped head ending in a dull point, the bristly and unfortunately poorly kept beard covering my chin. I rubbed the unshaven hairs on my cheeks, raised my bushy eyebrows, wrinkled my long nose, and with my tongue licked my now straightened teeth.

 

Damn dentist…those embarrassing braces fucked with my roots, and one of my teeth was left slightly misdirected as it became misaligned.

 

I brushed my slightly wavy black hair to the right, and breathed out. My beard needed a bit of trim.

 

I was actually a fairly hairy person to my discomfort at times except for this beard I was growing out. To be honest the only reason I had this beard was because it made me look older, I didn’t have to shave as much, and beards were _kind_ of cool. My laziness tended to ruin the potential effect of my beard making me look mature however.

 

I suppressed a snarl when I heard the footsteps from behind me. I knew it wasn’t Frisk or she would have said something, and it couldn’t be Asriel or the shadow would be upon me.

 

It had to be that b—Chara.

 

I stayed on the ground, and after a moment's hesitation huddled around so I could see her face.

 

Chara had a different vibe coming off of her now. “G’day.” My eyebrows practically flew off into space at the Australian accent that became more prominent. Chara always had a more serious and sophisticated air about her. Now, she wasn’t as imposing and intimidating as usual.

 

“Sup.” I huddled up on the ground and to my surprise she followed suit, wrapping her arms around her legs. I didn’t tr—

 

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry!” I flinched at the intense look in her ruby orbs. “I shouldn’t have said what I said to you! I shouldn’t have attacked you _twice._ God I blamed you for things you had no control over. I…” she trailed off and I doubled taked as she _blushed._

 

“U-Uh wow I…” I didn’t expect her to have a 180 change in view in a period of about ten minutes? She raised her hand to speak and I let her, though some skepticism remained.

 

“Ya alright with us us starting again? I think we can be good friends if…you want to be.” Her hand dropped down and I looked into her eyes.

 

There was genuine guilt in her eyes. A _blue_ feeling within told me she was being honest, and she wanted to make amends with me.

 

“Okay.” For a brief moment it was like being blinded by the sun. Her smile was wide and _almost_ creepy, but the relief and hope really lit up her entire face.

 

Both Frisk and her were quiet beautiful in their own respect but it was a different kind for each of them. Frisk was the kind of person you just wanted to hug and cuddle with. Her features were soft and she had a generally warm personality.

 

Chara was an…abrasive person. But when she was like this, I could see another less frightening side of her. She was more muscular and in some manners more masculine than Frisk, but it didn’t make her any less appealing. She was more a strong rock, someone to rely on in hard times. The kind of person where you’d feel safe and protected. Which sounded nice…

 

T-That isn’t weird, is it? Wanting to be safe and protected despite being a guy.

 

“Ya okay bud? You seem a little rooted.” Her australian accent is definitely something I like about her.

 

But…I did want to get to know her as a friend.

 

Chara jumped up, landing on her feet. She offered her hand, a more reasonable smile revealing small cute dimples on her cheeks. I took the hand, and she easily pulled me up with minimum strain or effort on her part.

 

“So let's get going.” She stopped me, gently placing her hand on my chest. I took the time to trace the multitude of scars with distaste. Because those marks certainly didn’t come from any monster.

 

“Uh mate I’ve already talked this out with Frisk. But we decided that I would take over your magic training. Since you have a pretty wide magic affinity I thought an expert like myself would be best.”

 

“Okay, sure.”

 

“Oh there’s going to be a lot to teach you. In a few weeks you’ll be a venerable expert in all things magic.”

 

I frowned as I noticed a lack of something. That was when what was missing hit me. “Your accent is gone, and you aren’t using your slang.”

 

Chara rolled her eyes at my disappointment. “I won’t always use my accent or slang Brandon.”

 

“Aww but I thought your accent was cute.”

 

Her ears burned red and she stuttered out a reply. “S-Shut up.” But there was a small smile on her face despite my teasing.

 

It was only a start, but I think I can work with this.


	3. Chapter 3: Exploring Waterfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I haven't really been on here for a rather lengthy amount of time. I've mainly stuck to posting on FF.net as per usual. I might start publishing a little more now, and in fact have at least six chapters to publish. Right now I'm sticking with two per day until it's caught up. Having an additional audience for my story is useful.
> 
> So uh hope you enjoy.

 

 

_ —Play Waterfall— _

 

“It’s a good thing the puzzles haven’t changed much in this timeline.” 

 

I had to agree with Frisk on this, my time playing Undertale was vital in maneuvering around this water filled and cool area of the Underground. Warmer than Snowdin but cooler than any other section of the Underground, Hotland was obvious, and the Capital had over a hundred fifty thousand people huddled together. The body heat alone was going to keep it warmer than here, with only around a tenth of that number if what Asriel was telling me was right.

 

We had been walking and exploring this place at Frisk’s behest much to the irritation of everyone following her. I mean, we could have said no but those dang puppy eyes are a lethal weapon. And she knew it, if the way she was victoriously sauntering was any indication.

 

“So…” I guess it’s Asriel’s turn to “bond” with me. The tall as hell goat monster tapped his paws together as he talked. “I’m a little curious…about your home.” I followed him so far and he continued, encouraged by my interest. “I know we’re  _ fictional  _ there, but what else is different compared to here?”

 

Hmm…what else is different from here? They never went into any detail on the world of humans in Undertale. It was never really the main point of the story. I know they’re at least as advanced as we are, if not more so if some of those theories about Chara falling in 2010X are true. Then Frisk would have fallen decades or even a century later.

 

“Well it’s the year 2018 over there for a start.” Frisk turned to me with her eyes wide and I internally cheered as the theory was proven correct. Asriel gave her a curious look, but shrugged and urged me to continue. “There’s something like 196 different countries scattered across the planet.” Frisk frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. I ignored the  _ emphasis  _ it put on her chest and sighed. “I’m a citizen of a country known as the United States which may…or may not exist.”

 

“It does…” Thank you for the input Frisk.

 

“My country is going through…a rather turbulent time politically as so are a few other countries.” Asriel raised an eyebrow but I didn’t elaborate, that would set me off on a half hour rant. “Anyway, I would say we’re doing pretty well. We’re even getting into full on relatively affordable space travel.”

 

It was Chara’s eyes that lit up with my statement. “Really? Like what kind of space travel? Are they building a space elevator, a launch loop or an orbital ring?” Chara blushed as our merry group of three turned to her. “I mean…uh I…” 

 

I gave her a wide grin, finding a shared topic of interest. “Hey it’s fine Chara,” Frisk’s grinned when I used her friend’s name and I ignored the sunny girl as best as I could. “It’s not quite as… _ grandiose  _ as that, but it’s still awesome. There’s an American aerospace company that’s working on truly reusable rocketry and are already halfway there, they’ve propulsively landed over a dozen rockets already, including a triple booster rocket that sent a payload to just past Mars orbit. In fact…”

 

I pulled out my phone, and after some finagling pulled up a video on YouTube to show her the footage. Her jaw dropped as she watched the double landing of tow orbital class boosters… 

 

Wait… 

 

I didn’t download this video… 

 

“I’m an idiot…” I palmed my face and decided to try a little text, I had no clue whether or not it would even work. Chara leaned in, her expression darkening when I stopped on “Mom”

 

_ Mama estas ahi! _

 

I sent the text with bated breath but after a few minutes my hopes were dashed when the text wasn’t responded to.

 

“Sorry but due to the barrier it’s one way communication.” I sagged and almost growled as Asriel pulled out my phone from my hands. At my look he chuckled. “Don’t worry I’m just gonna add a little magic to  _ reinforce  _ this thing against damage of any kind. Wouldn’t want your last connection to your home breaking.”

 

That was quite helpful and was really a load off my mind. The monsters were cool and all but they didn’t have the most…restraint I would say. This phone was all I had to access  _ my  _ world.

 

“Thanks…you’re a pretty good  _ kid. _ ” He bared his fangs once he got the pun and I laughed. “Hey we  _ goat  _ to get going right?” His ears twitched angrily. “Hey what’s that look…am I…”

 

“No you  _ fucking  _ don’t!” He hissed with an affronted tone.

 

“Getting your  _ goat? _ ” He huffed and I felt my breath leave my lungs when he harshly pushed the phone into my chest. “Heh, totally worth it…” I uttered my words out despite the haze of the pain in my chest.

 

“Please don’t mess with my brother…he’s really sensitive.” Chara walked ahead of our two other compatriots until she was in step with me.

 

“Um sure?” Chara had approached closer than I was expecting her to, our hands brushing against each other every once in a while. It was at complete odds with her previous behavior.

 

_ “ _ So about the space thing?” Oh that makes more sense. And this is a topic I don’t mind talking about at all.

 

“...Oh right it’s pretty interesting isn’t it?” She nodded with a subtle smile. “They have two rockets right now, they use open gas generator Kerolox engines if I remember correctly. They’ve just been designed and redesigned continuously until they were capable of 10 reuses. Heck I hear their planning a third reuse for this year.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Pretty cool right?” The girl’s smile widened, seeming to agree with me.

 

“Are…are they planning anything else.” 

 

My grin widened at her question and I thought it best to enlighten her on the future.

 

“Well…”

* * *

(Frisk’s POV)

 

It’s good that they’re both making friends now. I  _ really  _ don’t want to deal with them fighting for weeks on end or I’d go insane.

 

Not that I was  _ ever  _ sane though.

 

Right now we were wandering about Waterfall, and it was even prettier than before. The Underground seemed just a lot brighter and more hopeful than when I came here in the OG timeline. Maybe because Asriel is still alive or even something else has changed.

 

A lot better than the surface though… 

 

Seeing Chara  _ not  _ giving a human a look of disdain was a miracle. Any time they weren’t talking about science stuff was spent taking in the sights. Especially on Brandon’s part. He looked absolutely  _ enraptured  _ by the view around him, his head swiveling in every possible direction.

 

He seems kinda nervous too. Couldn’t blame him either, a part of me felt like a monster would jump out at any moment and attack. But that wasn’t happening so I felt a little jumpy. 

 

“Its really a sight to see isn’t it?” I grinned as Asriel walked in step with me, his dark red eyes watching the duo with a toothy grin. “Seeing  _ Chara  _ of all people talk with a human on good terms is bit of a miracle. If she can do that so can everyone else. I might not be the sweet little cinnamon roll I used to be…” I snorted, no matter what he said he still was an adorable cinnamon roll in my mind. “But with everyone including that human with us, I think we can make things work.”

 

You know maybe he’s right. 

…

 

…

 

“You have something on your mind? You’ve gone all ‘Frisk’ on me.” I sighed as Asriel read my thoughts with ease. After a few hundred RESETS a person tends to learn how to read you pretty easily. It’s even easier when you have your full spectrum of emotions to pick them out on that person.

 

“I’ve been thinking…about how we got this ‘new’ ending.” Asriel slowed, his eyes becoming distant.

 

“You’ve been thinking about what changed right? It seems you and Chara have fallen down at the same time, despite being born nearly one hundred years apart even here. I’ve been born almost hundred years later too, You’ve been born a few years earlier and…” He developed an intense look at my flinch and his paw wrapped around my forearm. “...How was your childhood this time?”

 

I held back a wince and his scowl deepened. I pretended not to have heard him but he wasn’t having it. He pulled me aside away from prying eyes. His eyes held the plea for honesty and I sighed.

 

“Worst…it was worst.”

 

“Damn, is your happiness really worth this Frisk? Why do you need to make yourself suffer this much?” Asriel sounded angry, his ears twitching and his footsteps leaving furrows in the floor.

 

“It is worth it Asriel and you  _ know  _ why I don’t care.”

 

“Idiot…”

 

“Maybe…But I don’t care anymore.”

 

It’s not like I deserve anything less… 

 

* * *

(My POV)

 

“Sooo…you’re getting along pretty well with my s—err Chara huh?” I shrugged as Asriel spoke up, his breath tickling my ear as he leaned in close.

 

“What about it?” I was curious on the tone in his voice. Hope I haven't insulted him somehow. Or maybe he’s a little protective of her.

 

“Hey don’t worry man. I’m just happy to see her  _ not  _ hating a human.” Well that makes a lot of sense then. Chara is pretty stubborn and I imagine they never succeeded in getting her to open up

 

“I…can imagine.” I replied with some unease, the flow of water and the whispers of echo flowers was mildly disconcerting. But the atmosphere of this place was incredible. A thought struck me as I thought about the future. “Hey Asriel.”

 

“What?” His ears flopped as he tilted his head.

 

“Has…Frisk ever told you what the surface is  _ really  _ like? I know about my world but I have no idea if this one shares the same similarities. I know my country  _ exists  _ on some level but…” I trailed off as an indications for him to speak.

 

“Well,” he cracked his back and scratched his nose as he replied. “She has told it’s pretty  _ hot  _ on the surface, a lot of deserts, and there aren’t as many humans as there used to be. Something to do with a war maybe?”

 

Hmm…

 

“Well I don’t know anything about that, there hasn’t been any world spanning wars in almost eighty years back home.” The conversation dropped off into a comfortable silence. For once the silence wasn’t empty or awkward for me, I was okay with just  _ being  _ for once.

 

Unfortunate, that Asriel didn’t feel the same.

 

“ _ Sooo, _ ” my eyebrow twitched at the teasing tone in the goat prince’s voice and I walked a little faster. “You think my sister is hot?”

 

Me…and my big mouth.

 

I shrugged helplessly and he laughed with an almost mocking intonation. It felt more lighthearted than that, and I scrambled to shut him up. What will shut him up…?

 

“S-Shut up!”

 

Genius, Brandon… _ genius.  _ Asriel quirked a bushy eyebrow and I hoped to god my torment would end.

 

“ _ Ohhh,  _ so what was it that attracted you to my sister? I know it’s a big debate up on the surface.” I hate this lovable fluffy boy so much. “You an ass man?” He gestured to his posterior and I turned bright red at the insinuation. “Or do you prefer boobs?” Please kill me…

 

“Just stop, shut up!” Both the girls in front of us slowed down and my blush deepened.

 

“Or is it something a little more wholesome. Did you get lost in the beautiful crimson pools of her eyes? Did your eyes love the way her red hair sparkles and shines? Did her smile light up her face and made you think she was majestic?”

 

“Just…fuck off man!” I roared loudly, lifting up the hood of my jacket to cover my burning face. “Why are you like this?! You were always so innocent before, hmm…” I shut off that path of talk as I thought more closely about it.

 

“Well being a soulless flower for a couple years, getting sent both back and forward in time. Getting all my memories shoved back in at age 11  _ tends  _ to change a man.” He replied with complete nonchalance.

 

That’s…completely fair… 

 

“You still haven’t given me your answer.”  Are you  _ fucking  _ serious? Is this journey tailor made to fuck with me at every turn.

 

“I…” I tapped my fingers one against the other as I formulated my answer. I knew this was a losing proposition. He was a rather  _ determined  _ fella and would get it out of me eventually so why not tell him. “Well she’s…well I guess kind of got all of the above?” Chara let out a squeak and I promised to punch Asriel in the future. “She was pretty…well kind of a bitch at the start but once she calmed down and just  _ talked. _ I came to think of her as a person I’d like to know better.”

 

“Really? That’s not something I’d expect from you. No offense.” I didn’t blame him, it was a little weird. But to be honest…Chara kind of reminds me of me in some way. Though it's easy to see she’s been dealt a much worse hand in life.

 

“That’s fair. But honestly I can at least…sympathize with her. I might not have an exact idea of what she’s been through but I have to admire that she managed to survive.” Asriel nodded with a solemn look, though he looked dissatisfied. I rolled my eyes and answered his question more clearly. “There isn’t any part I  _ really  _ like more Asriel, she’s just naturally very pretty, so’s Frisk. But I do have to admit having a preference for strong fit women.”

 

“Like with muscles?” I shrugged as Frisk broke in with a light smile. Her face was a little flushed but that didn’t stop her.

 

“MUSCLES!! YOU WANT A FLEXING CONTEST ; )” 

 

Da fuck?! 

 

From out of nowhere Aaron emerged from the darkness. A brief burst of white and black follows before the world shifted back to a normal shade of color. I shook my head and my eyes widened as I read the text popping up above his head.

 

_ —Play Enemy Approaching— _

 

*** Aaron flexes in!**

*** Aaron 7 ATK 2 DEF**

*** This seahorse has a lot of**

**HP (horsepower).**

 

He gave me a flirty wink and I shuddered. It didn’t help that the horse was only a few inches shorter than  _ Undyne _ though he was certainly far weaker. Asriel was giving the seahorse monster a dry look and he turned to me. And 

 

“You’re going to have to enter a flexing contest. Aaron here wants to see what a human can do. Better just to indulge him” Not much of a choice there fuzzy goat buddy.

 

“Fine just bring it on already…” I gestured for the horse to start and he winked again. I held back a groan and—

 

“ _ Ahem. _ ” I sighed in relief while Aaron started sweating as a certain royal guard snuck up on us. Now I didn’t have to embarrass myself by flexing for no reason.

 

“Hey Undyne.” I relaxed and took a few steps away from Aaron. The fish lady waved back, likely mollified by my instant stepping down. I didn’t have the particular urge to fight anyone whatsoever.

 

“Sup punk. Is Aaron causing trouble?” I gave her a so-so gesture and she gave him a glare. The poor guy ran off in a hurry and we were left with Undyne.

 

“Not anymore.” Chara’s reply was dry, her eyes following the dust cloud left in Aaron’ wake.

 

“That’s good…” Undyne scratched her head a bit and I noticed the conspicuous lack of Monster Kid. Undyne beat me to the question however. “Oh I had to send Monster Kid home after a stalactite nearly crushed him. Had to make some calls to get rid of them. I would do it but…” 

 

“You’d cause the area to collapse?” Undyne winced and nodded her head. Well I have to be honest with her, she’s a terrifyingly strong person. 

 

“Soo…we hanging out or what?” Chara broke in with grin and I nodded agreeing with her.

 

Wonder how that will go…

 

* * *

(Asriel’s POV)

 

This human kid is a pretty shy guy ain’t he? But that might just be because of the circumstances of everything. Golly I think I’d be pretty shocked if I was hit with all of  _ this. _

 

The human…Brandon was staring curiously at his hand as he gathered his soul energy into a concentrated ball. He didn’t seem to know what to do, and I decided to help him out.

 

“Howdy,” he blinked and turned mechanically toward me. “You wanted some help with that while Chara is busy?” He nodded hesitantly and I grinned when his eyes darted toward my sister. He didn’t want to offend her, whether because he liked her or was afraid of her, it was still adorable. “It’ll be fine, she won’t mind me teaching you a bit. Besides you seem kind of nervous and this might help you relax.” Brandon gave me another nod and swallowed nervously.

 

“Yeah okay,” he scratched the back of his head thinking over a question. “Oh! Do you know what that flash of monochromatic light was?” 

 

So…he can see that? Usually only monsters can see that, with most humans unable to. But that could be because of inexperience rather than a natural characteristic of humans.

 

“That’s what marks the start of a battle if it wasn’t obvious.” 

 

“So is the text a part of that too?”

 

I smiled slightly at the curious intonation. He was hungry for more information reminding me of Chara when we were younger.

 

“Yep that helps for communicating because sound can…become a little too slow for communication.” 

 

He turned with wide eyes to me. “You’re acting like they can break the sound barrier.” I gave him a smug grin and he looked impressed.

 

_ “ _ Pretty cool right? We monsters might be weaker than you humans but we aren’t  _ that  _ weak.”

 

“Are you sure that difference just applies to  _ your  _ humans? My humans  _ can’t _ do any of those things. We have no magic, no Determination or anything.”

 

Are his humans different? I mean it looks like he has magic and even a little determination just fine. But is that just because he’s being affected by the rules and laws of our universe? Or did his world have something blocking the use of magic?

 

“Well I don’t know…you have a soul don’t you?” He looked unsure, his hold on the soul energy tightening. I decided it might be best to move off the heavy topics for his sake. “Let me start again, I’m supposed to be teaching you.”

 

“Sure.” He looks more excited now, a small bounce in his step.

 

“Right,” Thankfully Gaster knew a lot about human magic for whatever reason, so this wouldn’t be suspicious. “So you have a purple soul which stands for Perseverance but you have other aspects inside of your soul.”

 

His eyes lit up at the explanation. “Like a magical affinity? Being able to do other types of magic on top of my…base?” I nodded and with a flick of my wrist formed seven floating soul illustrations.

 

“There are seven main SOUL traits each having their own branches of magic. Most humans have three or four traits. One major and two minors…but in your case you have…five affinities, lacking only Patience and Bravery.” His jaw dropped, and his soul flame flickered letting out a burst of astonishment.

 

“So I have Perseverance as my major?” I gave him an nod, deciding to explain it to him further.

 

“From what Gaster has told me Perseverance souls have their domain in memory and analysis. They can make some cool traps using magic, as well as use forms of wire and web magic.”

 

Muffet’s a good example of purple type magic.

 

“They’re also of above average intellect and memory so they can learn whatever interests them more easily. I  _ think  _ they have speed burst magic too?”

 

“We’re here punks!” I blinked and realized Undyne was right…we had managed to walk all the way into the small town that was considered her home.

 

“Woah…”

 

Woah indeed…

 

* * *

(My POV)

 

We had walked into a section separate from the others, a  _ shortcut  _ if you will. Bit boring maybe but it beats walking and going through a dozen puzzles.  Despite the small size it was still a rather pretty place just due to the lighting.

 

“oh…sorry…didn’t mean…to get…in your way…” I flinched as I realized I had passed through a certain ghost monster. In my distraction I had veered off from the main group and got in the ghost monster’s path by mistake.

 

“No, no it’s okay. I wasn’t watching where I was going. It’s completely my fault.” Despite looking like a floating blanket with a face I felt bad regardless.

 

“oh…okay.” He seemed to notice me staring at his headphones and I turned slightly red.

 

“Uh…sorry just…you like music right? Those headphones of yours are a bit of a tell.” I tapped my fingers, one against the other at his silence.

 

“yeah…i make…some…music. do…you…like music too?” I nodded with slight eagerness.

 

I was never much one for making music, outside of random outbursts of song and humming when the mood struck me. But I literally listened to music for up to an hour each day before coming here.

 

It helped focus my thoughts, as well as stoke the flames of my imagination. I could imagine an entire battle scene following the beat and tone of a song. Imagine a heartbreaking and depressing end with the right music. Though it’s harder to translate those inward scenes onto paper than you would think. But outside of that not much else.

 

Except for two years of high school dance… 

 

“Yeah I actually listen to a bunch of music pretty routinely. Music is cool.” His duo eyes lit up at my comment and he started to drift away.

 

“that’s…good…but…i…have to go…to take care…of an errand…sorry…” I nodded with understanding.

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“maybe…we…can hang…out sometime…” I gave him a thumbs up and he left phasing through a wall to get to his home. 

 

“Making friends huh?” I jumped as Frisk’s voice popped up from behind me. A brief flash of  _ yellow  _ fizzled and then died in my clenched fists before I registered the girl’s presence. She had pulled down the hood no longer needing it to shield her from the weather.

 

“Uh I guess? I always thought that Napstablook needed some friends.” She smiled a bit at my reply.

 

“So…uh you doing okay?” She winced once her question left her lips, a slight hiss accompanying the words.

 

“About as well as I can separated by possibly millions of light years from everything I’ve ever known.” I decided to be straight up with her, and her embarrassment showed. Her cheeks puffed up, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes glancing toward the ground instead.

 

“HEY YOU GUYS COMING OVER OR WHAT!? I  _ REALLY  _ DON'T WANT TO GET PAPYRUS ON MY CASE!” Frisk instantly bounced, grabbing me by the wrist and taking me with her. Which was fair, disappointing the skelebro must feel horrible.

 

A mere three or four minutes later and we were at the friendly welcome mat of Undyne’s home. The large fish looking house was rather  _ odd  _ to look at in person, and I frowned at the slightly  _ flaming  _ dummy leaning against the wall.

 

Sometimes I forget that for the talk about how monsters are weaker than humans…they’re still far  _ far  _ stronger than a human from my own world. 

 

“Hmm…”

 

Undyne opened the door to let us in, a wide toothy smile painted on her face. I shut the door behind us and I felt my stomach drop at the fish women’s expression.

 

“I know…” Frisk’s smile was instantly wiped off from her face and she stepped back. Chara didn’t move a single muscle, a facade of calmness overcoming her. Asriel sighed as if an answer had been given. I didn’t do anything myself unsure of what my place was in this conflict.

 

“I…” Frisk’s voice cracked and she looked ready to run away. She braved up and asked a shaky question. “H-How? How do you..” Undyne raised her hand and Frisk stopped talking.

 

Undyne  _ glowed, _ red sparking veins lighting up. “How else do you think punk? Determination is a hell of a thing…”

 

“Then why haven’t you…”

 

“Tried to kill you?” Frisk swallowed nervously but nodded as she got the nerve. “Well a few reasons, you haven’t killed anyone, and if I tried to kill you now it would ruin  _ everything. _ We wouldn’t survive a war.”

 

“That…makes sense…” I shrunk back at their gazes, covering myself with a cough.

 

“And because you stopped being in control a  _ long  _ time ago…”

  
  


Huh?

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chara’s calm seemed to break, sweat dripping from her forehead. She was shaking, her eyes blinking rapidly. Frisk showed concern, turning to the other girl and gently gripping her wrists.

 

“Chara? What’s going on? Why are you shaking?” Undyne spoke up stopping the frightened women from saying a word.

 

“The first 300 RESETS are kind of a blur. But that’s about the time things started changing. That’s when you started Genocide right?” 

 

Frisk nodded with a shaky head, and I wondered just how many times had she had reset this world. 

 

“About then…I saw a… _ vision _ . A dark shadow cutting deeper and deeper into this world…” Undyne looked nervous and haunted by whatever she had seen.

 

“Chara? Please…” Frisk looked conflicted unsure of what to think.

 

“So I don’t hate you…I know why you wanted to RESET. You played with fire…and got  _ burned. _ ”

 

“So…you never really were in control…” Asriel sounded bitter, releasing a frustrated chuff.

 

“But my decisions were my own weren’t they? I decided to reset I decided to…to…kill everyone and I suffered the…” I felt a spike of worry at the  _ broken  _ look on Frisk’s face.

 

“Maybe but…despite everything you’ve done. I forgive you…” 

 

“I don’t understand.” Neither of the women had any semblance of control or calm. Frisk was near tears while Chara was muttering obscenities under her breath.

 

“Maybe,” I kept my voice steady as they stared. “We should take a step back here. If there’s anything you can tell us please do but the topic of  _ control  _ should be put off the shelf for now.” Undyne relaxed her stance and I felt relief. You could cut the tension with a knife. 

 

“That’s probably a good idea,” she looked concerned for the time and leaned back. “So how’d you get caught up in this mess?” 

 

Oh…guess I should have expected that after butting in like that. 

 

“I don’t know actually…I honestly just showed up a few seconds before they did. But what I  _ can  _ tell you. Their messing around with spacetime seems to have torn a hole between realities.” 

 

Still pretty pissed about that…

 

“You’re saying you’re from another world?” 

 

“Uh yes?” I was hesitant in answering her yet she took it in stride.

 

“Huh? You punks are always giving me new surprises.” She shook her head, and she flashed a weak grin. Her concern deepened and I fidgeted under her intense gaze.

 

“What?” Some irritation escaped out as a harsh reply.

 

“You’re barely keeping it together.” I nodded, I couldn’t lie to her face.

 

I  _ was, _ well…scared. I had no clue what I was doing. I had nothing, nowhere,  _ no one  _ to fall back on.

 

“Hey…kid you want to see something cool?” I took a breath and nodded. A distraction might be good for me right now. She stood up and pointed with her grin to follow her.

 

I wondered what she wanted to show us?

* * *

 

I’m entirely sure this a terrible,  _ terrible _ idea. That would be my first words to go Undyne as I watched her and Chara stretch as they got ready to…

 

Fight…

 

“This is a bad idea…” I decided to go with the blunt approach because frankly, not doing so would end…poorly. Chara scoffed as did Undyne making me worry even more.

 

“Come on…this should do the both of them some good.  _ And  _ it’ll teach you some neat stuff about magical combat.” Frisk did her best to convince me but I wasn’t so sure about this. Asriel didn’t seem to lean one way or the other,  it he was setting up a small sports neck so we could watch.

 

The girl smirked and pulled me to the seats, rather forcefully placing me next to her.

 

“Besides this gives you a chance to stay close to me.” She whispered into my ear with a slightly sensual lilt. In that moment I hated that I was so easily swayed by her, not used to such actions by…well anyone.

 

“F-Fine.” She showed off her teeth in a happy grin and I turned to watch the bout.

 

Undyne rolled her shoulders and I flinched as she cracks her neck along with it. If my eyes weren’t deceiving me I could feel her…intent from here. An outflow of energy, much like an aura of raging fire and determination. I could see hints of green, yellow, and red within the white aura of her…soul… 

 

But Chara…if Undyne was a raging fire then Chara was a county wide firestorm, though one held back by lack of fuel and space. Most likely her body hadn’t kept up with her experience. Even then her aura…her intent was bright and more deeply painted than Undyne’s. A shining almost blood red flame coated with bits of yellow and orange. A sense of…bloodlust? No, more a frenzy fighting within her for release. A possible enjoyment for combat?

 

Without killing anyone…my guess anyway…

 

“You can sense that huh?” Chara’s eyes were covered by her curtain like bangs as she asked out of nowhere. “You’re picking stuff up pretty quickly. I think you’ll be able to catch up in no time with  _ my  _ training.”

 

I don’t know about that.

 

“CHECK us if you like…get a feel for what magical combat is like.” Undyne gave me  her permission and I did so, curious on what I would see.

 

First the Spear of Justice.

 

*** UNDYNE ATK 15 DEF 4**

*** The heroine.**

 

Thought there’d be a higher attack for some reason. Undyne had a knowing smirk and I gave her a weak glare. 

 

“You know those checks can be fooled right? I’m suppressing my power a bit to math up more evenly with our little princess of darkness here.” I nodded, hiding a chuckle behind my fist as Chara pouted. But yeah I did know, though Undyne confirming it for me is rather helpful. I decided to CHECK Chara next out of curiosity if nothing else.

 

*** CHARA ATK 6 DEF 5**

*** The fallen princess.**

 

Well that’s a confirmation of her gender if nothing else. Both suddenly dropped into combat stances, and I felt a shiver as Asriel snapped a finger. A bubble of  _ something  _ surrounded us, and I wondered what he had done.

 

“Uh? What was that?”

 

“Bound magical field…with my magic I create the rules for this fight. So nothing  _ lethal  _ can happen by mistake…”

 

“I swear I’ve seen or heard this before.” Maybe from the Fate series? Yeah that sounds right… 

 

“Pretty cool right?” Frisk eyes glowed for a moment as she asked me and I gave her thumbs up. I was a little too focused on the incoming fight. Both had a slight barely noticeable glow as they walked toward the other.

 

Another flash of black and white…

 

“This is going to be pretty interesting isn’t it?” Chara chuckled between her words, electricity sparking from her fingertips. She whistled, one of her red eyes shifting to meet my own. “Now Brandon…you’re going to see what magic can  _ really  _ do. So get ready.” Music echoed from all directions, and the flames of monochrome light only intensified

 

_ —Play Spear of Justice— _

 

“Because it’s going to be an eye opening experience!” Undyne entered in before… _ blurring. _

 

**BOOM!**

 

I was nearly thrown out of my seat as the two women connected, a shockwave of what I knew was  _ magical  _ energy rocking the air.

 

Then I noticed more closely the nature of that resounding sound…oh…oh man… 

 

“They’re breaking the sound barrier.” Frisk didn’t reply, her focus clearly away from me and toward the fighting women. 

 

They were fast…faster than anyone I had ever seen before. Each attack and movement of theirs rang with power and ferocity. Most of their attacks were a blur, my eyes unable to keep up with the flurry of punches, kicks, and magical attacks. Several booms echoed the second indicating something of a near hypersonic nature.

 

“Hey…focus on keeping that burning flame inside of you active…” Asriel gave me simple instructions, and I thought about focusing some of that energy in my eyes. The blur of movement became more comprehensible but they were still substantially faster than I was. 

 

But the difference was more like between me and an elite athlete or martial artist rather than me and a damn space shuttle. I decided to watch, seeing just what they could do.

 

Undyne shouted… _ something  _ and I focused my magic once more. It was clear that sound shouldn’t carry between them at a several times Mach speeds…unless maybe…if I CHECK.

 

“ _ You’ve gone soft haven’t you punk. I thought you’d put up more of a fight! _ ” Undyne boasted to Chara’s chagrin, the redhead gritting her teeth in suppressed rage.

 

“ _ Oh sorry fishlips but I didn’t exactly bring all my power with me. And you and I both know that was for the best. _ ” Undyne frowned, and pointed a clawed finger toward the girl.

 

“ _ Well that’s…FAIR ENOUGH! _ ”  Dozens of blue spears surged to life, striking in the spot Chara had once been in. At the last second she blocked the attack, beams of yellow plasma countering the spears destructive power. She used three for every one of the spears, the gulf in magical power more obvious. 

 

Chara leaped up, and impossibly changing direction in midair, summoned two orange boxing gloves over her hands. She twisted her hips, adding further power to her punches. Undyne took a physical orange attack to the face, unable to move back in time. Then another as a full on kick struck one of her legs. 

 

From what little I could tell…the punch had done less damage than the kick… 

 

“Oh you should know that an ATK stat is just a base…we can hit  _ way  _ harder than that, unless you’re sans. It just tires out a user more.”

 

If Asriel replied so accurately I must have said that aloud by mistake… 

 

Undyne brushed off her lip, a smile curling onto her face. “ _ Not bad ‘princess’, now show me what you got! _ ” A wave of  _ green  _ struck the battlefield, but instead of damaging Chara it merely kept her in place. Chara’s SOUL shifted from red to green, and she caught a thrown spear, forming a defensive shield for the human.

 

The human looked annoyed, her expression just  _ screaming “ _ really?” 

 

“ _ I have some new tricks up my sleeves…I won’t be as easy as before. _ ” Chara didn’t seem to believe her but played along regardless.

 

**SHOOM!**

 

Chara scrambled to block as many spears as she could, blocking a spear each and every second they fought. 

 

Each of her movements became more desperate and then…a blue glow from below…the girl’s eye widened before she cried out in pain. A single gigantic spear brought her down to nearly half her aura, and she flew up into the air, striking the ceiling and leaving a Chara-shaped crater in the cave rock.

 

“ _ God dammit you wanker! Was that necessary? _ ” She flushed at Undyne’s expression and gripping her hands into the fragile cave wall, stepped off, the air pushed away by the raw energy of her jump.

 

She landed a super powered kick, Undyne blocking it with a fist but wincing nonetheless. She shaped both her fingers into guns and a dozen yellow bullets struck scores across Undyne’s body. 

 

“ _ You shouldn’t have put yourself in reach of my arms. _ ” He fish warrior’s hands gripped around Chara’s right leg and…

 

Threw her around like Hulk throwing around Loki. I winced each and every time Chara’s face met with the floor, chunks of earth exploding outward with each impact. But then…Chara

 

**Exploded.**

 

A ball of plasma detonated coating the entire field and stopping just short of our faces, stopped by Asriel’s boss monster magic.

 

“I didn’t think anyone could be…this ridiculously overpowered.” In just a sentence the two threw a dozen hits, with Chara hitting the bullseye a little more often.

 

When Chara was thrown against the barrier protecting us. It was clear she was  _ pissed  _ and ready to strangle someone.

 

She growled, and opened and closed her right fist as if…

 

“ _ ENOUGH of this shit! I’m right furious now! _ ” Her breath became shaky and unsteady and a red aura infused the air. The air shimmered until a wire-frame matrix came together. A bubbly liquid solidified until the object became visible.

 

A knife… 

 

Chars exploded into action and spear and knife struck against the other. The two magical weapons sparked as they clashed.

 

Chara struck through Undyne’s guard leaving a shallow cut. 

 

Undyne thrust forward, the spear bouncing off Chara’s abdomen and dropping her HP even more.

 

Chara’s knife fired a beam, and then glowed with orange light, cutting diagonally across Undyne’s stomach.

 

“Should we—?”

 

**BANG!**

 

_ “ _ Uh? T—?”

 

**SLASH! KRASH! BWOOM!**

 

“To stop the—?”

 

**SHINK!! BOOSH!**

 

“THEM!” I lost my patience at the continuous interruptions, and Asriel as well as Frisk did their work. Suddenly vines tripped the two fighters, and a friendly green barrier caught the both of them. I heard the signature sound of a battle end, and sighed in relief.

 

Chara jumped back up ready for another fight before she staggered. Her breath was ragged and she was close to collapse…she looks ready to fall.

 

She’s falling…

 

_ Green. _

 

Another barrier stopped her fall, and it acted like a soft cushion stopping her fall. 

 

“Good that you stopped her fall, that looked like it would hurt.” I felt puzzled when Frisk gave me a funny look and pointed to my hands. I glanced down to find one of them glowing  _ green  _ meaning… 

 

“Huh? So I made that?”

 

I made that…I made a floating barrier with magic.

 

Magic… 

 

I have actual magic… 

 

“So cool…” I couldn’t help but feel awe, though it was soon replaced with embarrassment as I realized I had leaped into the air. All four of them had amused expressions and I wanted to hide. 

 

“Heh…guess you have a bit of kindness inside you. Quiet a gentlemanly thing to do, preventing a lady from falling flat on their face.” I jumped out of my skin as Chara appeared from behind me, leaning into my ear. A hot flush rose from my neck and into my ears.

 

Damn my inexperience with women…the only thing I’ve managed with them in the past, is not thinking I’m creepy. Except for that  _ one  _ exception and that was  _ completely  _ intentional.

 

Though talking about eating guinea pigs as a delicacy is  _ kind _ of a dick thing to say. Even if she is a bit of a raging hippie vegan…and while I’m no conservative, messing with her was pretty hilarious. 

 

**Drip-drip.**

 

Is that blood…?

 

“You’re bleeding!” I rushed over into Chara’s space as worry overtook me. The taller women was holding her nose, and  _ something  _ was telling me to to reach for her. “Oh…maybe one of you can heal her?” I asked the prince and Frisk for that help but they shook their hand to my utter confusion.

 

“If you can make a barrier  _ you  _ can heal her.” I frowned at their response and tried to speak up until a hand patted my shoulder. Her smile was oddly reassuring despite how  _ off  _ it always seemed.

 

“Hey, just think of it like practice. You never know when you might need healing magic. And it’s not…that bad.”

 

The blood dripping from your nose says something  _ completely  _ different Chara.

 

“Fine just tell me what I need to do.” I demanded of her with bite and she grinned, showing most of her front teeth with the gesture.

 

“You have the first step down already. Concern and caring for others.” She flicked my forehead and I huffed. I really wish I could stop her, but I’m not even a third as strong as she was. She also knew  _ much  _ more about fighting than me with untold years worth of experience stored up in that pretty little head of hers.

 

“Now try to feel out my injuries and damaged aura with your aura. Think about repairing that damage using your own power. Because you want to help yes?” I breathed, and reached out before realizing I couldn’t heal her without contact. 

 

“Uh…could you lean down? I think I need touch to heal you.” She blinked at my request. I gave her a helpless shrug at her inquisitive gaze, but despite her misgivings she bent her knees. 

 

Aura…magic felt incredible. A feeling of love and acceptance of myself, any feelings of helplessness, fear, and self doubt fading away. And now I would use it to help another person. 

 

But it didn’t make it less embarrassing… 

 

I placed my hand slowly and gently on her warming cheek, doing my best to stay calm. I pushed that feeling of  _ empathy  _ and  _ compassion  _ through my chest and up into the connected arm. 

 

“Recording this for posterity Asriel?” 

 

“Yep, this is freaking gold Frisk. Hope you don’t get easily jealous Frisky.”

 

“Shut it goat-boy.”

 

_ Ignoring  _ the weirdos in the back acting like we can’t hear everything they’re saying.

 

The glow spread out to the rest of her body, and she sighed as if relieved. The bleeding from her nose stopped, while all the small scrapes and bruises accumulated from the battle faded or healed at a rapid pace. I let go once the process was done, stepping back from the girl at the same time.

 

“You know…” there was sly grin on her face, and I held in a groan. “You  _ could  _ have used my shoulder instead of grabbing my face?”

 

“Not my fault that’s what my SOUL is telling me.” I grumbled out, refusing to engage with any teasing. “And I’m  _ so  _ sorry for worrying for your health Chara.” Her laughter stopped at my complaint and I smirked just the slightest. It seems I left her a little speechless.

 

“So you got that out of your systems you battle freaks?” Asriel looked mildly annoyed and his slight snark was a result of that.

 

“Come on Asriel, at least it's not the two of us sparring or I’d have to do some  _ pruning. _ ” The goat monster twitched and refused to acknowledge Undyne’s reply.

 

“How fast are you?” The cage around my curiosity has finally broken after a day. A day in a place of monsters and magic. I couldn’t stop myself, from asking a flurry of questions now.

 

“Uh you talking to me or all us?” Chara questioned me with reluctance and I took two steps forward.

 

“Yes!”

 

“That didn’t answer the—.”

 

Ignoring you fluffy boy.

 

“I know you can all seemingly break the sound barrier. But I don’t know much else other than that.” I popped up in front of Chara, and she looked uncomfortable. “Can you outspeed a fighter jet? How much damage to bring down one HP? What type of magic is there? Do boss monster souls last longer because their magic is stronger or is it due to determination?”

 

“Uh…woah there give me a moment to—.”

 

“How many types of monsters are there? Is the magic you’re using Justice and Bravery? How—mpph?” Chara pushed her hand against my face, muffling my voice. Which wasn’t fair since I had so many questions I needed answered.

 

“Brandon dear?” Her voice was cold and I clamped my mouth shut. “I would  _ strongly  _ prefer you keep that babble in check. It’s hard to answer your important questions when you’re throwing them out at a hundred words a second. So please keep quiet capiche?” I nodded and she let go with an almost whimsical hum.

 

“Whop-eesh.” 

 

I can’t believe myself…I kind of want to punch Asriel Dreemurr in the face right now. Apparently as a teenager he’s kind of a dick…if a well meaning one at times.

 

“I will kick your ass mate!” And I can hear Chara’s cute accent some more.

 

Asriel rolled his eyes picking up the bench with one hand “Sure you will…” he dragged it away, and Chara pouted, now cross with her adoptive brother.

 

“Hey Brandon?” I twisted on the balls of my feet to meet Undyne’s…well neck.

 

“What?” 

 

“Well since you’ve gotten a taste of what your magic can do. Why don’t you try out a spar with me? It’ll be—.”

 

“NOPE!” Undyne was pushed back by a frantic Frisk, and Chara stepped between us as well. Frisk was shaking her head and quietly whispering an admonishment to the now sheepish Royal Guard.

 

“Now I don’t want to be mean here but…” Chara didn’t know how to word her sentence. But it did not take me long to understand.

 

“I’m kind of an out of shape wimp?” Her wince gave me my answer. 

 

But she wasn’t wrong. I was no determined soul, at least not to the same extent as they were. Not a badass boss monster, or a Determination burning undying warrior. Not a reality warping skeleton, or a super entertainment robot, not a spider queen or a royal scientist.

 

I’m not going to call myself average,  _ mundane  _ would be the most accurate word to describe me. I’m smarter than the average person, wealthier too but that’s my parent’s accomplishment rather than my own. I’m…was getting a college education which has now been derailed. 

 

Maybe someday I could rise up and become something  _ more  _ than who I was right now. But now was not that time. Chara might be a way to that path of becoming more than I once was.

 

“If spars are out of the question…what about a cooking lesson?”

 

Oh…my…  

 

YESS!! Time to blow off some steam!

  
  


The crackle of a burning home greeted us as we woke up… 

 

“You think we might have gotten a little carried away?” The small spark nearly hitting her in the face was Undyne’s answer to our question. 

 

“I really hope we don’t get in trouble for this.” I worried immensely though Undyne waved off my concerns.

 

“Don’t worry! This happens all the time, it should be up and running again in a week.”

 

“Right…that sounds great.” My reply was almost caustic but I held it back. Regardless of the property damage, cooking together was  _ actually  _ pretty fun. Really gets the blood pumping.

 

“Probably have to call sans and Papyrus to crash at their place until my house is fixed up.” She bounces up onto her feet, running in place before she… “See ya!” I flinched at the sudden boom muffled by an outflow of magic.

 

**RING! RING!**

 

Asriel’s hand twitched and he reached into…a pocket dimension I think? He pulled out a rumbling smartphone, with a touch screen and everything. He answered and I couldn’t make up much of his conversation. Chara tilted her head, an ear straining to listen in on him. He hung up, his look unimpressed with his sister’s failed attempt at spying.

 

“Oh brother.” Her voice was sickeningly sweet and he rolled his eyes. “What was that about?” He flicked his wrist, the phone vanishing back into his Inventory if I’m guessing correctly.

 

“Just some news from the landlord. The paperwork for the apartment next to mine is filled out so Frisk and Brandon have a place to stay until the barrier is broken.”

 

Well that’s a relief.

 

Adding Undyne to the mix would make the skeleton’s house a little too crowded for my taste.

 

“And it is pretty late…about nine or so?”

 

No way that much time has passed. I’ll check on my phone it should only be… 

 

_ 7:30 PM _

 

We…must have been knocked out by the explosion longer than I thought. And if we’ve been out that long, that means… 

 

**GRRRR!**

 

Chara and Frisk both blushed as their stomachs rumbled at around the same time. 

 

“If you’re hungry my mom brought in some human food ingredients. We might be able to cook something up.” Both their eyes lit up at the prospect as did mine for obvious reasons.

 

“That sounds great!” I replied with much gusto, unable to contain myself.

 

Because frankly I was starving.

 

“Only thing is…I don’t know how to cook any of it, and Toriel is busy with Kingdom governing.”

 

“I might be able to make something…” Chara looked skeptical and I shriveled under her critical gaze. I didn't back down though.     

 

“If you’re sure.”

 

“I am.”

  
  


The quiet humming of His Theme was rather soothing as we cooked what we were respectively skilled at. I fortunately had a moderate knack for not instantly ruining my food. Though I was limited to cooking eggs, and making spaghetti. Thankfully the ingredients were similar enough to back home. Right now I was waiting for the noodles to heat up, stirring them every once in a while when needed. There were also some microwavable meatballs which while not as tasty as something handcooked. I didn't exactly have the skills for such a task.

 

“Didn't think you’d know how to cook.” Chara spoke up from a table set up in Asriel’s moderately sized kitchen.

 

“I don’t really…I’ve only made spaghetti  _ once  _ before.” At her panicked gasping I reassured her. “It tasted fine…honestly it came out perfectly fine, my mom didn't even have to monitor me too much.” I went back to stir the noodles, eying Frisk’s own dish. She was working a small grill in the house and was the first to start making a meal, though it was clear she would take the longest out of the two of us.

 

She had started by grabbing like two pounds of chicken along with ginger, garlic, lemongrass, various powders and lemon soda. She mixed them together and allowed them to sit and marinate, she grabbed a seperate bowl and combined some other ingredients. 

 

Right as I was finishing she began to grill the food, and I decided to sate my curiosity once again.

 

“What are you making? I know it’s grilled chicken but still?”

 

There was an appreciative smile on her face as she answered. “It's called Chicken Inasal it’s a filipino recipe Nothing too special…” 

 

It looks really complicated to make… 

 

“I could teach you if you want?” I considered her offer, and nodded though.

 

“But not right now…maybe tomorrow if I have time.” She accepted my answer returning most of her attention to her task. 

 

“It's only a little question. You say you aren't a cook, but if you were is there anything in particular you would want to learn?” 

 

“Anything in particular?” She gave a “ahm” sound at my query and I pondered on it, coming to a single answer.

“Well there’s this pizza I really like in the sobreruedas.”

 

“Sobre-what now?” Please don’t make me want to hit you Chara.

 

“Sobre _ ruedas,  _ a mexican flea market of sorts that puts itself up a few times a week, usually thursdays and sundays I believe. My parents and I would go weekly to buy this pizza. It was and still is my favorite pizza in the world.” I sighed forlornly in memory of when things were simpler. When I didn't understand why my parents were…arguing.

 

“How good was this pizza?” Chara was intent on knowing the answer.

 

While I added the sauce and meatballs I obliged her. “I’ve always had a  _ bit  _ of a sweet tooth.” I didn't imagine Asriel’s pointed look toward his sister. “The pizza place I think used some type of sweet dough that gave the pizza this weird perfect mix between savory and sweet that I  _ adored.  _ We went on a weekly to biweekly basis for years until…now.”

 

“Uh sorry.”

 

“It’s fine. Besides it’s time to eat anyhow.”

 

I served a respective plate for each of us, and after another couple of minutes so did Frisk. So it was now time to eat!

 

* * *

 

Ughh might have overdone it. 

 

But then again I hadn’t had a meal since breakfast and that was almost half a day or so. As of 9:57 PM I was quietly digesting my meal, covered in a warm blanket that Asgore had generously brought in as well as the bed.

 

Two beds in fact, with the other a few feet to my left and occupied.

 

“Do you really need to sleep in the same room? There are two bedrooms you know?

 

There was a nervous rustling from her side of the room, and I could make out a glowing blue eye peeking out from under a tiger print blanket.

 

“It’s…I don’t want to sleep alone okay!” There was shame and embarrassment in her voice and guilt surged into my mind. 

 

“H-Hey don’t worry about it Frisk. It’s a little… _ disconcerting  _ but I can deal with it.”

 

“If you’re sure.” I was.

 

There was  _ one  _ issue with sharing the room though, and it was mildly shameful…

 

I couldn't exactly get any…release if you catch my drift. I mean I could…but fuck that would be weird.    

 

…

 

…

 

Should stay off that train of thought for now… 

 

Feeling sleepy… 

 

_ Zzzzz. _

 

_ Zzzzzz. _

 

_ Zzzzzzzzzz. _

 

Lights out… 

 

* * *

 

(Unknown POV)

 

How interesting…These readings they are both intriguing and disturbing at the same time.

 

“Alphys? Are you reading the data?” Some nervous shuffling alerted me to my assistants plight.

 

“I-It c-can’t be right! These spacetime anomaly readings are off the charts! The m-machine i-is indicating massive damage to the timeline that  _ predates  _ the first, second, and third anomalies.”

 

“But is right my dear, and you know why that damage exists don’t you?”

 

“T-The barrier sir?”

 

“Indeed, the humans  _ awakened  _ this world to a dark prescence when they trapped us Underground and have dearly paid the price. My sensors have picked up several space-time bubbles forming throughout the surface. Synchronized with the  _ boy’s  _ timeline.”

 

“Why would the-oh god!” There was horror in her voice.

 

“That  _ entity  _ has wrecked most of the inner solar system, while the planet’s are  _ thankfully  _ left in orbit. A good fraction of life has been left…well unable to live.”

 

“All those people…”

 

“Are fine, those bubbles protected them.”

 

“Those bubbles…if they’re along with the Barrier synchronized with this parallel timeline before the rest catches up. How…m-much t-time has there been?”

 

An excellent question from my fellow scientist.

 

“Who could say…a year, a thousand, maybe even a million? Until the Barrier is shattered we will not know.”

 

“A f-final query. Where is the first  _ anomaly? _ ”

 

Cold ran down my bones before I could stop them.

 

The possibilities are many, and most end in tragedy. There would be no stopping that  _ thing  _ without incredible numbers.

 

All I can do in the face of adversity… 

 

Is to stay determined.       

  
  



	4. Chappter 4: The Way of Magi

**Chapter Four: The Way of Magi**

 

I could hear a rising crescendo…a song that filled my soul with hope and determination. I didn’t know where I was, who I was,  _ when  _ I was…but right now that didn’t matter.

 

“ _But… Deep, deep in my soul. There’s a burning feeling I can’t describe. A burning feeling that WON’T let me die._ _This isn’t just about monsters anymore is it?_ ”

 

A true hero…was rising…and in the dark I could see the cold dead eyes of a mass murderer. In front of her stood the cracking, shimmering,  _ shining  _ body of a great spirit…a great…SOUL gifted with tremendous power… 

 

“ _ If you get past me, you’ll… You’ll destroy them all won’t you? Monsters… Humans… Everyone… Everyone’s hopes. Everyone’s dreams. Vanquished in an instant. _ ” I could hear and  _ feel  _ the sheer will and determination behind those words, and I could barely stand as a mere monster fought against a being with the power of GOD.

 

I…I… 

 

“ _ But I WON’T let you do that. Right now everyone in the world… I can feel their hearts beating as one. And we all have ONE goal. To defeat YOU. Human. No, WHATEVER you are. _ ” I could hear them too…the beating heart of a thousand monsters…backed by the fearful hearts of a hundred million human souls.

 

“ _ For the sake of the whole world… I, UNDYNE will strike you down! _ ”

 

The world  _ screamed _ as a hero rose from the ashes…to PROTECT the SOUL of the WORLD.

 

* * *

 

“AHH!” I jumped out of my bed, the shards of my broken dream tickling and cutting into the back of my mind. My face met with the carpeted floor and I let out a curse.

 

I breathed out harshly, gripping my face as my nose throbbed with pain.  I scrambled to get up, my face accidentally pressing against someone’s leg. I looked up to find an amused Frisk in a sleeveless blue tank top with black gym shorts.

 

My face burned for a moment before I forced myself to jump onto my feet. I didn’t want to further embarrass myself.

 

“Uh…pfft…you okay?” She could barely say anything past the laughter building up and I sighed.

 

“Yeah…just a weird dream is all.” She cocked her head, curiosity brimming in her eyes. “And no I’m not going to tell you what it is. Much less when my memory of it is already fuzzy.” She pouted but understood going onto another less sensitive topic.

 

“Right uh…I was going to wake you up but…” she waved to me and I gave her a helpless shrug. Not much that could be done about that.

 

“It’s fine.” She fidgeted for a moment before suddenly changing topic.

 

“You want something to eat? I made some breakfast.” I nodded and she pulled me away to a small kitchen table built for two,  _ maybe  _ three people. Two plates were already placed down, each of them a plate of scrambled eggs with some bacon.

 

Wonder if they use lab grown meat for human food? It would be the most efficient manner of food creation, since monsters  _ still _ need some physical feedstock to make their monster food.

 

I guzzled down the food, needing to get some more food in after a day of nearly nothing. She grinned, actively preening herself to my own confusion. But thinking about it for a few minutes made it more logical.

 

She was obviously proud of her cooking skills and considered the way I ate my food as a sign of approval.

 

I think…can’t be making assumptions…I think there’s a saying for that but…

 

I don’t recall.

 

I picked up my plate, placing it in the sink before thinking better of it. Realization coming into mind. I was never one to… _ ever  _ clean dishes but now I have no choice… So while I could leave Frisk to do the work that seems like a bit much even for me. 

 

So…I’ll get to work I suppose… 

 

“You don’t have to…” Frisk tried to do the work herself but for once I didn’t let someone else pick up the slack. Besides it was only the one anyway.

 

“No it’s fine…” after remembering how to actually  _ clean  _ a plate I did so leaving it on the…whatever they call that little bin… 

 

_ Wow  _ I really lack a lot in the way of common knowledge huh?

 

Bah!! 

 

A pile of clothes struck me in the face, and I held a shirt, some shorts, and to my embarrassment some underwear to change into. Frisk smirked pointing to the nearby bathroom. “You should take a shower like I did. Two days without taking a bath is  _ not  _ conducive to one’s scent.” I sniffed myself and a I couldn’t suppress the grimace as the stink entered my nose.

 

“Uh right…” she also poked my chin, slight distaste on her face.

 

“And you need to clean up that face. I like the beard but you look like a hobo right now.” I held back a pout and grumbled as I walked past her to the shower.

 

She’s not wrong though… 

  
  


“Okay you’re cleaned up now. If it’s okay with you I’d like to go outside.”

 

I tilted my head at Frisk, a slight smirk painting an amused picture. “But aren’t we Underground? How can you go outside?”

 

“You know what I mean.” I shrugged giving her my most innocent look as she opened the door to the relatively more open outside. I found myself impressed by the design and general openness despite the supposed small volume of the Underground.

 

That apartment checked out for us was somewhere in New Home, which unlike in the original was closer to a damn arcology rather than a medieval microcity. Though the styling of the well designed buildings was still rather similar. The design of this place was incredible, but then…

 

It had to be, to support hundreds of thousands of monsters comfortably and safely so deep below the ground. From what I’ve managed to scrounge up, apparently Gaster mad figured out some human technology that would allow for the creation of a true arcology. The tech was decades ahead of anything  _ we  _ had, and allowed the Underground to support more than quadruple the original population without drastically draining the Underground’s resources.

 

To make up for the insufficient scrap from up above, Gaster had built a  _ lava  _ mining device. Cooling hundreds of tons of magma, separating them into the various metals needed. It helped that this mountain had billions of tons of ore sequestered down here.

 

So…rather a comfortable existence down here…but there was an undertone or desperation regardless.

 

The situation wasn’t sustainable, monsters had maybe a generation or two left before they  _ did  _ run out of room. Once that happened, it would be a slow and steady decline to inevitable depopulation and extinction.

 

The barrier must break…or else the Kingdom will fall into ruin.

 

“Hey? You doing okay? You seem kinda distracted right now.” I blinked out of my daydreaming to nod. The girl next to me sounded concerned and I didn’t really want that

 

“I’m alright, just thinking.” She didn’t push me on the details and I took a step closer to her, as the crowd of monsters around us picked up. We were exploring the areas of New City previously inaccessible to us. While there were no signs of cars or trucks, there was a well designed and funded metro system. They seems to be high speed train, capable of accelerating to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. But in most cases the sheer compactness of the city made it unneeded.

 

The other form of transportation was on foot with many pathways allowing anyone to traverse the entire Underground on foot with relative ease. 

 

Pretty neat honestly.

 

“Where are we going anyway?” I never asked while we weaved between the crowd, too distracted with keeping up as well as my own thoughts

 

“Well…” Frisk scratched the back of her neck as we approached what looked like a Monster version of Starbucks. “We’re here to meet up with Chara so she can start up on your training.” My eyes surely lit up at her reply, and I followed her with a spring in my step.

 

“That sounds cool…” Her smile told me that my excitement was rather obvious.

 

The door chimed as we walked in, my body tensing up at the monsters stares. But to my surprise the monsters relaxed quickly and we picked the table with the slightly smiling redhead sitting down.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Hello.” We both greeted her in our own way and we picked out our respective seats. From what I could feel she had bought us some type of large chocolate chunk cookie which I was glad to eat after thanking her for buying them for us.

 

“So how have you been adjusting?” I gave her a so-so gesture while taking a bite out of the delicious chocolatey goodness of this cookie.

 

“I don’t feel as confused and terrified as usual so that’s a relief.” My earnest answer shook her, and she glanced at Frisk with an uneasy expression. 

 

“Uh…alright. Well I promised to teach you magic and Asriel knows a good secluded place to learn. You’ll even get to meet someone who's an expert in human magic.”

 

“Who?”

 

“ _ Uhhhh… _ ”

 

* * *

  
  


_ —Play FMA Brotherhood Home— _

 

I ignored the burning sensation of someone glaring at me. I fidgeted with my clothes, Chara forcing me to change into something more appropriate to the training session. So a loose fitting blue-green shirt and black colored shorts with a single stripe of white fit the ticket.

Chara herself was wearing loose fitting clothing. Saying that it would be necessary for the training. Apparently she doesn't like how some clothes restrain her reach and flexibility.

 

I would make a mass effect joke but that’s beneath me.

 

_ Anyway,  _ she had a loose and comfortable looking set of grey sweatpants and a green tank top. 

 

Now as to the glare(more an intense stare really) that was from the inspection of a  _ certain  _ Royal Scientist. I think he was just curious but that didn’t make it any less creepy.

 

He was…a strange monster…and was generally off putting. But I felt it was best to leave it be for now.

 

“Ok now the first thing you need to do to access your magic is to bring it out. I’m sure you remember how?” I nodded and she stopped me before I could go further. “Do that but instead of bringing it out into a shape, form it as a field of energy that permeates your entire body. That will improve both the durability and strength of your body as well as increase your reserves for magic.” 

 

Hmm…I’ll try.

 

Ok…reaching for that burning feeling again, and this time it’s… _ everywhere. _ My body felt like it was breaking apart, until…the fire became cool, more of a warm cozy spot near a fireplace than a raging inferno.

 

It…was  _ nice. _

 

“Uh…are you alright?” I opened my eyes, feeling a little flustered at the way Frisk and Chara were looking at me.

 

“This feeling…” I rolled my hands into fists, surging the liquid fire in my veins into them for a moment. Purple light flickered and died, before flashing on with greater intensity.

 

“It  _ does  _ feel pretty weird the first time you manage it.” Frisk herself seems familiar with it, likely her own experiences coming to mind. But when I tried to take a step she stopped me frantically. 

 

“What? Will the ground explode if I take one step?” Her sheepish chuff told me all I needed to know.

 

“Now that you have  _ that _ down we can focus on emitting some of your aura into the ground to  _ reinforce  _ it.”

 

I followed Chara’s command and an infinitesimally small amount of my energy dived into the ground around me. At first it did nothing only surging between the cracks in the stone. I tightened my hold on the energy, using it to solidify and strengthen the ground according to some strange instinct.

 

“You’ve got it. Now just think up of a spell…imagine it on your head and try to shoot it…” she stepped aside revealing a small holographic target for me. “At this thing.”

 

A spell huh? I’ve got a rough idea of what she means. I’ll try with my main trait, maybe…they said something about binding magic right?

 

I can move my aura around with a thought, maybe that’s the key. At least for simple magic anyway. Using it like a third arm to perform a specific action limited by the distribution of traits within my SOUL. So…let’s pull out some aura, form it into…

 

My arm glowed as a long coiling nearly serpent like binding emerged from my right arm. The spell was unstable and wobbly and I could barely keep it going.

 

“Give it some instructions…with humans magic needs a little extra order to fire them off safely. So make it a three step spell, summon, target, fire.”

 

_ Summon. _

 

The wire solidified and I grinned at the relative success. It wobbled again and I realized I needed to give it a target. My mind’s eye brought to mind that hologram and its location.

 

_ Target _

 

The coiling, writhing snake focused, it’s wild shambling becoming more steady. 

 

Breathe in. Breathe out… 

 

_ Fire. _

 

The wire lashed out at incredible speed, the signature sonic crack of a whip shaking the room. The target was sliced apart like it was hit by a sci-fi monomolecular blade and I added a fourth step.

 

_ Dissipate. _

 

The spell faded out, the rope of magical matter disintegrating into nothing. Chara gave an approving nod, and I wondered if Perseverance functioned differently than her own magic. She was limited to combat magic, as well as whatever bullshit Determination could do, while  _ purple  _ magic had some more utilitarian functions. Something like a bullet wouldn’t need to ordered to dissipate once it made its mark on something. But a rope, a wire, or a web won’t vanish until you  _ tell  _ it to vanish.

 

“Fascinating…a rather quick learner are you not?” I ignored the scientist, closely examining the air where my whip had cut. I could…just about pick out some trace amounts of aura left behind, a hint of inefficiency perhaps?

 

Depending on how magic works it might operate similarly to more conventional methods of converting one form of energy to another. There’s going to be some loss and I imagine it the possible to reduce that loss with experience.

 

“I did have a feeling that your magic might have some differences from my own magic. It tends to dissolve or fade away on its own once it does its job. But yours…you have to add that command for some reason.” I shrugged at Chara’s words thinking of what else I could make.

 

“Might be because it’s some type of wire or binding magic. If it was dissipated by touch it wouldn’t be very good to trap anyone.” 

 

“That makes sense.” Chara agreed with me before starting up a follow up lesson. “Now I want you to try out something…more physical in nature.”

 

“What do you mean ?” I felt like that was the good question to ask the former princess.

 

“I’ve never seen this form of  _ speed burst  _ magic for myself and I’m rather curious to see how it goes.” So am I.

 

“Sure.”

 

Ok…I should come up with a set of steps for this spell first.

 

_ Increase speed. _

 

I moved faster and faster and faster. The world slowing almost to a crawl as I moved meters at a time. Within a couple of milliseconds I made the step more specific.

 

_ Increase speed X2 _

 

The headache I was developing stopped, and I realized this was the practical limit to my basic enhancing spell.

 

_ Shut off. _

 

I stayed still as my muscles ached with a mild amount of exertion. I stared at the spot I had previously been, noting the cracks and lines made in the wake of that burst of speed. Heat surged into my body, and literal  _ steam  _ left my lungs yet my insides were perfectly intact.

 

“Again impressive. You move fast human…but  _ how  _ fast is the question.” The tall and disturbing to look at skeleton chuckled as he stepped with purpose. His left eye glowed blue and  _ something  _ leapt out scanning the trail like a machine.

 

Gaster still freaked me out and I didn’t understand why. I’m not sure I even  _ wanted  _ to understand.

 

“25 meters…crossed in 46.816479400…” a parade of other numbers followed as he muttered under his breath. 

 

That’s in milliseconds so that would mean… 

 

“534 meters per second…rather slow despite the sizable speed dilation. If you were more physically fit I’m sure you could reach a kilometer per second. How unfortunate…” The scientist’s tone had a trace of sarcasm in it and I resisted the urge to fight against his point.

 

Man…Gaster is kind of an ass isn’t he?

 

“Gaster please don’t start…most monsters would be hard pressed to match his pace. He’s a relatively normal guy, not a warrior.” Asriel came to my defense and Chara moved on to a different set of magic.

 

“Ignoring the bonehead to our left, you’ve got your main magic down right now. So let’s move on to your secondary trait. A good quantity of  _ Integrity  _ coloring your soul with some blue. They are considered to be among the most morally righteous of souls.” I stood up straight at the slight compliment.

 

“But…all that means is that they follow their morals and nothing else. They could be total psychopaths and still have integrity.”

 

Thank you…for that…enlightening comment heir to the throne.

 

Frisk gave the goat monster her signature -_- expression and he looked away, unable to meet her intense gaze. How she managed that with her frankly adorable look I had no clue but…good on her.

 

“Please!” The others quieted and Chara fishery before taking a calming breath. “Be silent so I can teach him. Or is that too much to ask?” The four shut their traps and she turned to me with her still creepy smile. “In your case two forms of magic I would want you to try is Telekinesis or Reinforcement. Both in their most simplest forms are rather easy to learn, though expanding upon them is rather more…mentally intensive.”

 

Reinforcement might be simple enough…it sounds similar to what I did with the floor before, but if my suspicions are correct I can use them to a much greater potential than other people.

 

Other people can certainly use their aura to keep stuff from breaking and for movement, mine is just more powerful and more diverse in its capabilities.

 

Frisk passed something into my mind and I focused my attention onto it… 

 

A piece of paper?

 

_ Oh…  _

 

That should be a good way to test out what I can do…

 

Paper…

 

I breathed out, and with my breath came a flowing stream of liquid magic. It dropped onto the paper like boiling magma, infusing with the very essence of the sheet of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and various other elements.

 

The liquid cooled, forming an electric blue circuit design across the thin slice of former dead tree matter. A brief grip test told me the paper would still crumple in my hand like…well, paper.

 

So let’s start with the steps for the spell… 

 

_ Reinforce. Strengthen the purpose of existence. _

 

A small substep added just  _ how  _ strong the sheet would be reinforced. As well as a limiter placed, I imagine there is a limit to how much energy can be injected without either losing control or destroying the object being reinforced.

 

Just a guess however… 

 

A final shut off step was added to my memory though I continued to allow the spell to drain me until it was as reinforced as I could currently manage.

 

I passed the paper over to Asriel. He tried to bend it…but it wouldn’t budge even an inch. He put an ever greater amount of force behind it and the paper creaked, sounding more like a sheet of steel than a sheet of simple paper. Cracks appeared over it, and the initial energy infused into it was gradually drained until it… 

 

**SNAP!**

 

The paper broke in half fluttering to the ground like it hadn’t withstood such an incredible amount of force in the first place.

 

“Again…impressive but with your traits you can surely do  _ more. _ ” I shrugged, but stepped back in confusion when the mysterious skeleton dragged Frisk forward with his magic, her aura flashing to blue as she moved.

 

“Uh?” 

 

“Boy.” I flinched as his voice dropped several octaves. It was then that I finally put all on my attention on what he looked like, despite the  _ raging  _ headache he gave me. 

 

The skeleton was tall, looking just like the typical depictions that most fans gave him in the many comics he had been drawn in. Only a few inches short of his youngest son’s already  _ monstrous  _ height. Seven feet tall would be an adequate estimate for his stature, making it rather frightening when he suddenly  _ appears  _ in front of your very eyes.

 

His dark coat fluttered in the nonexistent wind, and I wondered how it did that without a breeze. I could also pick out a turtleneck, my eyes preferring to look at them rather than his piercing glare.

 

“Watch closely now, this will provide an example for you. You’ll have to pull her away from my grip if you want her release.” Frisk choked as the blue deepened in color and intensity, and my muscles tightened as worry frayed my nerves. He was being rougher than he needed to be in his “demonstration”

 

But it was best to do what he said and against my better judgement I threw a flowing ball of more bluish aura. Though from my angle I could see Chara gritting her teeth at the scientist, Asriel had narrowed his eyes and his fists sparked with fire.

 

And frankly I was rather angry myself.

 

The ball impacted with her heart, and I felt sweat accumulate as I tried to pull Frisk out of Gaster’s telekinetic grip.

 

_ Lift. _

 

To Gaster’s surprise as well as my own Frisk’s feet left the ground. She was pulled into his direction and I counteracted it with a…

 

_ Pull. _

 

Hah got you…you…she’s still…coming this way… 

 

OH SHIT! NO GOD DA—

 

_ CRASH! _

 

In an instant some 80 kilograms of human smacked into me at sufficient velocity to knock me back several feet. An odd thumping sound indicating a tiny loss of HP rang out and my head smacked against the floor.

 

_ Oh god that hurts… _

 

“Shit…ow.” Frisk cursed nearly silently and I grumbled as the girl almost crushed my abdominal region with her knees.

 

Of all the positions it had to be this one…

 

Two knees to the gut isn’t exactly  _ painless, _ and I’m not even including the fact Frisk is both heavier and stronger than me. I would have preferred a more embarrassing position, at least I wouldn’t be in horrible pain.

 

“Get off!” Frisk yelped before separating us with an elevated barrier platform. She got onto her feet, while I stayed on the floor.

 

The somewhat older girl flinched and she pulled me up, and I nearly bumped into her. Fortunately that didn’t happen and…I feel like I’m forgetting something…?

 

…

 

…

 

“Gaster…” I could see no signs of regret within the glowing orbs that acted as his pupils and I counted to ten.

 

_ 1…2…3…  _

 

My anger was no longer boiling over and I rolled my neck wincing at how loud the cracks were. Getting knocked against the hard floor isn’t exactly the most comfortable experience. 

 

“Gaster?” Chara sounded calm, but the  _ look  _ in her eyes told me otherwise. The skeleton sweat dropped, backing away from the infuriated human.

 

“Yes prin—child?” Chara rolled her shoulders, sauntering violently toward the unfortunate man. I almost felt sorry for him.

 

_ Not…  _

 

“You know…” her voice was sharp as she jabbed her thumb into his chest making him flinch. “I couldn’t help but be see how unnecessarily  _ violent  _ you were toward my partner and my student. It’s a rather  _ disrespectful  _ action.” Gaster scoffed and I wondered if he was resentful toward just them or humans in general. Which pissed me off since I’ve done nothing wrong.

 

At least…I hope I haven’t… 

 

“What about it?” I snapped my head back as Gaster choked, his collar gripped tightly in the rough hands of the former princess. A face-splitting smile made him flinch and smoke huffed out from Chara’s nose as she growled.

 

“I  _ really  _ would like for you to stop doctor. After some thought I consider the both of them at the very least as acquaintances.” That's a backhanded compliment right?

 

“I was simply curious on how stress would…” She blinked once, flaring her teeth for a moment, and he stopped.

 

“They are  _ mine  _ you hear me?” He nodded hesitantly and my cheeks turned pink at the way she said it, and I noticed Frisk’s cheeks visibly darken too.

 

Her brother winced. “Not…the best way to word that sister.” 

 

“So if you don’t mind I would like you to leave.” With a  _ pop _ Gaster was gone and sans had taken his place. Chara gripped onto air and the oppressing atmosphere she unleashed was gone like the wind. Her stance relaxed and an easy(if wary) smile replaced the serial murder face from before.

 

“Sup sans. Sorry about snapping at your old man.” 

 

He waved her off. “nah. don’t blame ya. Gaster was always…a bit of a bonehead. the only people who really like him can be counted on one hand. the king, alphys, me and paps.”

 

That…is a very small circle of friends and family. sans smile widened as he looked at something behind me.

 

“Eep!” A weight pressed against my back… 

 

I forgot to turn off the command didn’t I? Well… 

 

_ Release. _

 

Frisk stepped back and I decided to voice my own opinion.

 

“Would it be okay to move on to the next magic?” I was in fact  _ ecstatic  _ to learn more despite the damper that Gaster has put on our parade.

 

“Yeah I think it’s fine to do that.” I beamed at the thought, and in a few bounds was just in front of my teacher. Her face screamed confusion and I responded with a similar look.

 

“Did…you just  _ skip? _ ” I shuffled my feet at her question once my brain caught up with my actions. I had done that in my excitement to learn more.

 

“Yes?” 

 

Why do I keep embarrassing myself? Is this universe out to get me? 

 

“Ignoring that, you still want to keep going?” I nodded, and she breathed out.

 

This was it.

 

“Now onto your third trait…Kindness. Frisk should be a better benchmark for that, with her mindset.” 

 

Frisk waved, her hand shimmering with an emerald shine.

 

“Yep! You can heal just fine, and I  _ think  _ you can set up some barriers too.”

 

“I’m a little overwhelmed by how much magic I can’t apparently perform.”

 

It does seem mildly overpowered to only have Bravery magic and Patience missing from what I can cast.

 

Chara tapped her index finger against her chin in thought. “You are a bit of a jack of all trades, but it’s not as impressive as you would imagine. Barring your Perseverance. Your other SOUL colors will always pale in comparison to someone who has it as their primary color.”

 

That makes some sense, though a single question remained.

 

“Is it normal to learn magic this fast? It feels a little anomalous.” 

 

Asriel had the answer to that question.

 

“Nah. Basic stuff like this will take maybe a few minutes to a few hours to learn. It’s  _ training  _ them to their full potential that takes work. Improving their power and range, adding steps to create new effects. Mixing different spells into one. It can take months or years to create a repertoire of spells that fit  _ you  _ as a person.”

 

Chara chuckled and I could sense the warning her brother gave her. “Still remember the time Azzy blew himself up when he tried fire magic. He had to shave his head and everything and I still—.” The girl cracked up, and Asriel bared his shape teeth. He looked pretty mad and when I laughed he looked even more pissed. 

 

Served the little bastard right.

 

“My training remember?” I gently reminded her and she got to the task at hand, as did Frisk.

 

“Ok Frisk give him an example of a barrier.” Frisk  _ beamed  _ and with a wave of her hand, a green translucent wall formed in front of her. It was about two by three feet across or 61 by 91 centimeters if you use the metric system. Give or take half a centimeter… 

 

I pressed my hand against the barrier, feeling the warm and welcoming sensation of Frisk’s aura manifested into the form of a quarter inch thick glass wall. 

 

Solid…dependable…and simple… 

 

I reached out within myself, and again pulled out a wobbly and unsteady blob of aura. Unsuitable for what I wanted to do… 

 

_ Form barrier. _

 

A small 3 by 3 inch square formed in midair. Not particularly strong or large but it was good enough for now. 

 

_ Move barrier. _

 

The second step made it movable and I could now theoretically use it as a floating platform. Though it was a bit too small for anything like that.

 

_ Desist. _

 

The barrier shattered like glass ceasing to exist in this world its energy dissipated by the mental command.

 

“Good job.” I smiled up at Chara and she released a quiet cough. Her eyes lit up as she came to a conclusion. “Now you’ve got only two most… _ combat  _ oriented affinities left. So let’s test them…well mostly test Justice anyway…”

 

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? A smiling and happy Chara is a terrifying sight when you’re talking about  _ fighting. _ The girl’s left leg brushed against the floor as she dropped into a low stance. The action reduced her profile, making it more difficult for a hit to make its mark. Her brother sighed and snapped his fingers, reality warping under the command of a Boss monster.

 

_ Oh god…that’s not good. _

 

“Whatcha doing there Chara?” I stepped back at the nearly manic glee on her face. I thought she would keep me safe from Gaster but she’s almost as crazy as he is.

 

“Fight me!” I jolted back at the shout, my body shaking in a confused and sweaty mix of both excitement and dread. Adrenaline rushed into my veins and I was stuck between between fight or flight, leaving me paralyzed.

 

“Uh I thought…” Chara lips downturned at my hesitance.

 

“It’s not that bad…I’m not expecting any real tricks or injuries here. It’s just that combat magic manifests easier  _ during _ combat. I’ll go nice and easy on you. Promise.”

 

I blinked at the soft tone of voice she was using. But if she insists on doing this guess I have no choice. “Fine…But please go easy on me.” She grinned widely and with a flash of monochromatic light the practice FIGHT had begun.

 

*** CHARA ATK 2 DEF 2**

*** Excited to teach you.**

 

_ —Play Stronger Monster’s— _

 

Didn’t know it could change from battle to battle. Though that may be a factor of holding back her power. Though I also wondered why the CHECK would give you a little onward tidbit of another’s mind. Did magic somehow let thoughts leak out that could be picked up by another user of magic.

 

“ _ Yeesh  _ you’re a bit of a loud mouth huh?” Befuddlement ran through my body at Chara’s words. I hadn’t said a single word since we had started.

 

Unless…damn it I’m a psychic blabber mouth aren’t I?

 

“I’m ready…” I wasn’t. I flinched back as Chara crossed the distance between us, and I flailed to my left  _ narrowly  _ avoiding a scarred fist to my face. She frowned at my hesitation and I took a deep breath, relishing in the influx of oxygen.

 

“If you’re sure…” Chara leaped up into the air, and I paled as flames erupted from her feet and hands. A firestorm of blue cake down in fierce and comforting waves.

 

“CR—.” I sealed my lips shut and  _ green  _ leapt from my hands.

 

_ BWING! _

 

The flames were stopped by a meter wide glass wall, with only some of it waving down near me. Sweat from my forehead hit the as the heat impacted me. 

 

“That isn’t an attack I’m seeing here!” Chara shot out from the rising smoke and I jumped back, screaming when her landing stance shattered the floor. Her hands lit up with  _ yellow  _ energy and solid beams of energy lanced in my direction.

 

I dodged two while a third brought me down to my knees. It felt like something swung a baseball bat to my stomach.

 

“S-Shit…oww.” She faltered at my whimper and at Frisk’s behest offered a hand.

 

“I’m sorry…maybe it was a little much for you.” I breathed deeply and focused  _ deep  _ within me.

 

Power…a force of will and a sense of justice…

 

_ Form. _

 

_ Shape:Spear _

 

_ Aiming…  _

 

_ Fire. _

 

Faster than sound, a spear of yellow and red light surged out from the tips of my fingertips. As long as my entire body, the four plasma infused magical spears catching her off guard. 

 

She blocked three but one of them managed to strike right against her stomach throwing her back like an artillery shell. I winced as Chara’s back hit the wall, leaving a sizable crater.

 

Wait…I did it!

 

Yes…I threw Chara…into…a wall…

 

…

 

…

 

This was a mistake…

 

_ POW! _

 

I got a haymaker right to the face, losing almost ten percent of my HP in a single hit. This time it felt like I was shot by a gun if the searing pain wasn’t any indication. 

 

I crashed into the ground, yet I managed to to get back onto my feet. This time five arrows shot out and a furious Chara tore them apart with a fire blast.

 

_ Speed Burst X2 _

 

This time the gap was a little narrower but despite my best effort I was still slower than she was. I summoned a few barriers as steps into the air, and with a roar I threw myself against her. 

 

“Heh.” Chara’s one visible eye shined with glee and I was shot off of her like a cannon but not before…

 

_ Summon Rope. _

 

_ Wrap. _

 

_ Dissipation Timer: 30 seconds _

 

I fell back into a pillow soft barrier, cushioning my drop. Chara cursed as the spell trapped her and she dropped to the ground. Then the pain came back… 

 

_ Ughhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! _

 

I could already see the apology on the tip of Chara’s tongue despite being in the floor. She inched herself onto her knees and then onto her feet when the spell faded.

 

“It’s…urrk oh god…” I held back a hurl. “Okayish…just we’re done here with the fighting and the punching?” She nodded and I thanked the heavens for small mercies.

 

“But…”

 

Oh no…

 

“We still need to train you…” at my look she backpedaled. “Not combat training outside of maybe some katas I can teach you.”

 

That sounds nice and safe.

 

“Sure that’s fine.” Chara sighed in relief at my assent.

 

“We need to get you in physical shape. Magic tends to function better when a Mage’s body is healthy. But I don’t kn—”

 

“Okay.” One letter word was all it took to quiet her down.

 

She looked a little surprised and I gave her a dirty look once I caught on to what she was thinking. 

 

“You were thinking I’d be lazy and protest against being healthy.”

 

I can hear that innocent whistling  _ princess _ don’t think I can’t tell!

 

I crossed my arms, tsking in disappointment. “You shouldn’t think less of others like that. While I  _ am _ lazy I’ve been making an effort to change my habits. It’s been slow going but I’m getting there.” Heck I had a fairly regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout for cardio and upper body work and a…less followed lower body workout.

 

“What did you usually do?” I pondered her question until an idea hit my nerves. Right I took a picture of what I had picked out. Since I had gotten a gym class from the community college I was attending I had gotten help from the teacher to pick out some appropriate exercises.

 

“Lat Pulls, pec fly, front dumbrows…” I muttered out the few other exercises keeping quiet around the ones I hadn’t done in great numbers.

 

“Well since it’s a Monday we can start…”

 

Wait but there aren’t any—

 

“SUP PUNKS! YOU READY TO GET RIPPED?!”

 

Oh no…

  
  


I collapsed into a sweaty mess as the exercise session ended… 

 

While I was used to about an hour of workout a day, it didn’t quite compare to what they were having me do now.

 

45 minutes of elliptical…

 

Higher weights and more sets with the suitable amount of rest in between. They also taught me a few stretches I could do, to loosen me up a bit.

 

All in all about 100 minutes had passed since we had gotten started and I felt sore as hell…

 

“Water?” Frisk tilted her head offering a cold drink. I leaps toward the drink, snagging it from her hands and bringing the drink to my lips. I took slow sips not wanting to choke on the cold bottle of dihydrogen monoxide.

 

“T-Thanks…” I wiped my chin as some water dropped off of it, the flush of my cheeks fading.

 

Undyne had come in to bring in all the equipment we needed and Chara said I would show up from Monday to Friday for two hours on MWF and one hour on TTH. Both to get my physical fitness up and to practice my human magic in privacy.

 

And it’s not like I have anything better to do… 

 

“Heh honestly though you would pass out in the first twenty five minutes.” 

 

I glanced away as Chara used a towel to brush away the sweat accumulated from her own workout. She had gone and done her own, more extensive and intense workout and I couldn’t help but blush at how her clothing clung to her body.

 

If Frisk and Chara had anything in common it was being… _ very  _ physically fit. 

 

But that did not make them any less terrifying. Especially once I figured out what one attack actually meant in terms of energy.

 

Apparently they calculated an attack of one as equal to 40  _ million  _ joules of energy, or about the energy of several tank rounds or nearly ten kilograms of TNT. I’ve got an attack of two or about the equivalent energy of a Vickers 10-inch naval cannon. And I’m an out of shape nerd with stubby legs.

 

Wait…if Undyne has an attack of 50…and if the scaling applies to her that means…  Holy balls she can punch harder than the  _ Gustav _ and that thing fired shells the size of goddamn trucks. 

 

“Hey relax I can pick up your pants wetting terror from a mile away.” I groaned at the smirk on Chara’s face, and tried to think up of a come back.

 

“Well, at least your pretty face makes up for that.” She blinked and I blinked at the reply.

 

Oh…why did I?

 

She tilted her head away from me, covering her face with her drying towel. I could make out how her cheeks puffed and her face reddened at the compliment.

 

“Did you really…?” I shrugged at Frisk’s question. There was a look in her eye however…like…pride?

 

**Grrr…**

 

Now I’m hungry…

 

“Anyone else hungry?” All three of my…friends(?) noses but a quick sniff of myself told me I needed a shower first.

 

“Well…I have something for that.” Asriel whistled and I was suddenly ambushed by a loving bathtub.

 

“WOSHUA WASH YOUR FACE!” 

 

Fifteen minutes later and the four of us are now exploring the dense city of countless monsters. I shook my head in wonder, the sheer diversity of monsters a little overwhelming. Dozens of different subtypes I had never met before in the game before. Apparently Asriel knew a nice little shop that sold good food

 

“Uh…are you okay? You’ve been quiet for a while.” Frisk asked me in worry and I nodded my head.

 

“Yeah I’m good…just a little tired and hungry.” I reassured her, keeping my arms wrapped around my chest out of habit if nothing else. She hummed in agreement, and I waited for the questions to start coming. Whenever she asked something I noticed she would gently brush her foot against the ground. 

 

Cute little habit really, and a rather consistent one too. Made it easy to spot even for me.

 

“You said…that we were a relatively popular video game back…where you come from right?”

 

I bit my lip at the question, a terse nod my only reply.

 

“Do we have…like a fandom over there?”

 

… 

 

…

 

“Based on that expression of yours we do have one.” Asriel didn’t seem surprised and I clicked my tongue not wanting  _ any  _ part of this conversation. “And it’s probably a  _ weird  _ one too.”

 

I picked up the pace, now taking the lead of the group. “We are  _ not  _ talking about this.” 

 

“ _ Ohh _ would it be too awkward to talk about?” I could hear the slightly sadistic amusement in Chara’s voice. I hated how her voice dropped to an almost sultry tone, leaving me mildly flustered. 

 

I wish I brought a jacket to hide my face.

 

Let’s just get this over with… 

 

“Well…the fandom has a very strong love of creating artwork, comics and fanfiction of various different types.” 

 

Chara caught up, leaning her body in my direction, her straight hair flowing downward. “And some of it can get pretty explicit huh?”

 

“Yeah…personally it's not my cup of tea. I like the comics and some of the story they write but that’s generally been the limit.” 

 

Asriel raised an eyebrow. “Who are their favorites?”

 

What? The fuck…?

 

He laughed almost bitterly. “I hang out with  _ Alphys, _ I know how ‘fandoms’ think.”

 

That poor, poor man…

 

“Favorites?” He nodded and the others were curious as well. “Well sans mostly, though the fandom in general seems to like most of the characters. But the craze with sans can be…off putting.”

 

“God, if your world is still connected with ours…” Chara sounded horrified, shuddering the entire time. I did the same as the idea passed through my head.

 

“But fortunately while Undertale  _ is  _ pretty popular it’s still a puny minority. Less than one percent of the population even know about it at best.

 

“That’s still millions of people…” Chara was definitely not satisfied with that answer and I couldn’t blame her.

 

“Well it’s not like any of them can hurt any of you even if they get magic. I bet you guys could fight off a thousand of them and not break a sweat.” I complimented the three of them. 

 

I genuinely believed they could do so. A boss monster with Determination, two mages with possible control over time. They’re so much stronger and better than me in every way.

 

Ignoring the many times they murdered a bunch of innocent people… 

 

So maybe not that much better… 

 

* * *

(Chara’s POV)

 

Oh god it’s impossible to be mad at this little midget…he’s just a pent up ball of anxiety, depression, and repressed rage.

 

As to how I could tell from just a glance. Brandon was many things, but a good liar to someone like me is  _ not  _ one of them. He was just a sad little sad sack and for once I felt actual empathy for another human being.

 

He, after getting over my suspicion seemed like an okay guy. I’m sure he’s capable of being a total dick when he wants to be but that’s different from being immoral or…dangerous.

 

So I guess I can help him out with adjusting to our world until we can find out how to send him back. But from what I’ve picked up it’s likely our meddling with spacetime has ripped a permanent gateway between our two worlds.

 

So at the least Frisk won’t start blubbering about losing a friend.

 

… 

 

… 

 

That’s not very convincing even to myself. It seems that idiot is  _ somewhat  _ likeable. At the least he can be a friend if you motivate him enough. And we share a couple of common interests so there’s that too. 

 

He…just seems really lonely and that’s coming from  _ me. _

 

And he’s really fun to screw with. He’s got a temper and pushing his buttons is fantastic. As well as the lack of experience with girls. He’s oddly genuine too, I guess he’s got Integrity in his soul for a reason. So for now at least I want to trust him.

 

It’s really easy to trust him too when he does shit like this

 

“This is really spicy…” Brandon groaned as he held his right cheek. He had been goaded into eating some monster made taco. Apparently it was made for Fire elementals so…it didn’t end well. Yet…

 

“It’s still really good…I haven’t had Mexican food in days.”

 

You would think it would be weeks instead of days.

 

“How can you eat that?” 

 

“When you’re Mexican you tend to get used to spicy food soon enough. Though admittedly this is a little beyond what I usually eat.”

 

Huh…well what do you know.

 

“Humans…” Brandon stiffened as a certain Royal Scientist melded out from the hidden shadows. A grimace appeared on my face as the skeleton approached us.

 

He looked apologetic?

 

“What do you want?” The sole human male’s expression darkened, his hands glimmering with pulses of magical plasma. He clearly didn’t care for how rough Gaster had been, I’m not sure where the dislike came from however.

 

Gaster rattled nervously. “I came to apologize for my actions…I was…just frustrated and in a poor mood due to…complications with the barrier.”

 

That isn’t good… 

 

“What are the issues?” I turned finding the boy to be rather serious, worry forming at the brim of his eyes.

 

“Perhaps we should speak in private…but I need you to teleport with me.” 

 

We gave him our assent and after some nausea found ourselves in a deeper part of the lab. There on the wall was dozens of computer screens all spitting out thousands of lines of code at a time. 

 

Simulations, data recording, sensor programming, the entire operation of some massive experiments was all…right here.

 

_ —Play FMA Brotherhood Mist— _

 

“What the hell is going on old man?!” This wasn’t normal, and I didn’t like being left in the dark. He had always had many secrets but this… 

 

“My work…on keeping us safe.” I shivered as whispers came in from all directions. From up, down, left and right.

 

All so familiar…at any moment it felt like my heart was going to burst.

 

Yet it didn’t… 

 

“But there’s nothing to fear anymore…even at its worst…the humans never attacked us. Everyone is alive and healthy.” Frisk sounded despondent and betrayed.

 

“Things are never so simple child of Mercy.” The whispers grew louder, more desperate and then…welcoming.

 

The voices…I had heard them before, in the last, in the final moments before the end of our last run… 

 

“What have you done?!” I stepped in front of my two fellow humans shielding them from him. Flames erupted out from my body, and my vision hazed with smoke and unbridled rage. “That energy, that… _ emotion,  _ I’ve felt and seen it before! I repeat! What have you done?!”

 

He glitched and and we all stepped back and gaped as six hearts orbited around him, flowing with magical energy. 

 

I leaped… 

 

Only to be deterred by a green barrier to the face.

 

_ ‘S-Stop…no fighting…I’ve been waiting literal decades for this day.’ _

 

Confusion filled me at how  _ old _ the voice sounded. The wizened and kind tone of an elderly women rung through our ears.

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

I really didn’t… 

 

“It’s quite simple really, no matter what I have said to the public. It  _ is  _ impossible to break the barrier without some amount of SOUL power. And did you really think the other humans would just disappear Chara? In your case, the barrier  _ glitched  _ freezing you in place for nearly a century. I knew they would fall soon enough.”

 

“They’re why you know so much about human magic then?” Brandon theorized to Gaster’s delight.

 

“How astute child, and you would be correct as well. I had to raise them in secret,  _ ethically  _ studying the very inner workings of their being. I could not hope to break the barrier with six SOULS, and I can not kill any of the three of you to gain the last needed.”

 

“So how…?” 

 

He snapped his fingers, showing a simple animation depicting countless monsters…and three  _ humans _ firing off a barrage of magic augmented and aided by the six fallen humans. The barrier started cracking with each hit, again and again, an again until… 

 

It reached the breaking point.

 

“I believe the concentrated power of over three hundred thousand monsters and three humans with a  _ converter  _ should be enough to shatter the barrier into nothing. This will protect us from the strain thus keeping everyone alive.”

 

“Have you told the King and Queen any of this…plan?” The skeleton frowned looking away from us.

 

“I…have not…I did not want any misunderstandings to jeopardize my goals.”

 

“Gotta be honest…that’s a  _ terrible  _ idea.” Frisk was shaking her head and frankly I agreed with her. Not telling them could jeopardize his goals just as much. “This can  _ easily  _ be taken out of context.”

 

“Fortunately I’ve already accounted for that…” Gaster summoned a phone sending some text through.

 

Wait…did he just…?

 

The phone rang…and he picked up.

 

“YOU DID WHAT! I AM COMING OVER THERE  **RIGHT NOW!** ” I shivered as Toriel practically turned demonic through the phone.

 

“Now before your mother kicks my ass, there are three more things I must mention.”

 

“You don’t have an ass…” Gaster gave Brandon a dirty look before clearing his throat returning us to our conversation.

 

“The first is that you must train yourselves in magic. For our two determined humans that is merely getting your bodies up to your stringent standards.”That sounds about right. Though he was eying the third human more closely and that made sense too. “Our… guest will have about…two weeks to get up to where you are now.” I frowned as the idea sunk in that we only had such little time to get him into shape. “That is the bare minimum required to break the barrier.”

 

“Why only two weeks? Wouldn’t more time be better?” Brandon sounded hesitant as well as skeptical and honestly so was I. Two weeks is a pretty small gap for that.

 

“Moving on to the second thing.” Gaster ignored us and I was close to clocking him in the face until I saw the look in his eyes. The screen flickered switching to what looked like the start of Home. The sunlight pouring down seemed to going wild, acting like a crazy strobe light.

 

Day, night, day, night…day, night, day, night… 

 

“It seems that  _ something  _ has forcibly disconnected the Underground as well as other locations across the globe from the local universal timeline. Our…connection with that  _ other  _ world has caused spacetime to go rather mad. By now time in both worlds has permanently synchronized but…”

 

“H-How much time has passed?” Frisk sounded worried and a little afraid as well.

 

“In the first day of your arrival, time passed at 365  _ million  _ times our time flow rate before the timelines synchronized.”

 

A million…holy hell…that’s an incomprehensible amount of time even for someone with control over time.

 

“Is the…third thing related to this somehow.” Asriel had a dark expression, and I shuddered as  a memory almost bubbled it’s way onto the surface. I blocked it…not…wanting to remember.

 

_ Monster… _

 

_ Let us erase this world and move on to the next. _

 

I turned to Gaster frowning at the sight.

 

I had never seen Gaster look so…small. He had retreated into himself, his hands trembling with fear.

 

“You both remember don’t you? That  _ abomination. _ ”

 

N-No…please it can’t…

 

“With what remained of its power it used it to destroy almost all life on Earth. The humans only lived due to their magic. Erecting a barrier to defend themselves and to anchor themselves to  _ his  _ timeline.”

 

“What is this  _ being _ you’re talking about? I have no idea what’s going on.” The black haired teenager sounded confused as well as afraid.

 

“I can tell you…but…not here.” I spit it out. I couldn’t keep them in the dark any longer…

 

It…wasn’t right…for Frisk or for Brandon. He was dragged into it, and Frisk was  _ hurt  _ by…

 

No matter how painful the memories were…I had to tell them the truth.

 

* * *

(Unknown POV)

 

**How curious…they truly believe they can stop me. Despite their many hundreds of failures against me. I am the end…the end of everything.**

 

**They are all sinners, all their meddling has done is give me a few billion more targets in this…so called** **_Real World._ **

 

**And what a world it is. So much hate, and pain to exploit. A decaying land soaked in blood by countless meaningless wars.**

 

**And so much sin is committed by this humanity of this Earth. Their murders, their rape of both their people and their land. Their hate for each other is just another example of why they deserve to die.**

 

**But first, my playground for ten thousand Resets, for ten thousand lifetimes will finally have outlived its usefulness. And once the Underground goes empty for one…last time.**

 

**Both worlds will know the true meaning of GENOCIDE.**

 

**BECAUSE I AM THE MONUMENT TO ALL OF THEIR SINS.**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's mighty ominous aint it? Anyways for today that's two chapters down. I know no one has commented so far... 
> 
> But do any of you know of someone I could commission fan art from? I can picture my versions of Frisk, Chara, pretty well...but I'd like someone who could bring it to life for me. Probably one for myself as well. I'd like to have an actual cover image in the FF.net version.


	5. Chapter 5: Angels and Demons

**Chapter Five: Angels and Demons**

 

I had no idea what was going on and I didn’t like that at all. Since whatever was going on seemed to be a threat to possibly the entire world.

 

Asriel had stayed behind with Gaster so I was left alone with Chara and Frisk. For whatever reason we had returned to the very first place we had met.

 

The chasm that led from the Surface to the Underground.

 

The sunlight that acted as a beacon during the day had softened to the silver light of the moon. The grass still had some body marks from when I fell a few days ago. Yikes…if it wasn’t for this world’s love for making physics its bitch I would be dead ten times over. 

 

A tired Chara gestured for us to sit on the soft grass, and we listened. I could see the lines of stress as well as the unusual quivering of her lips. Whatever this entity was, it must have terrified her to have even met it once and still act like this.

 

“Chara what’s going on? And…please no half truths or lies. Whatever is scaring your we can talk this out right?” Frisk taller my shoulders and I looked at her confused until she hastily gestured to Chara.

 

“Oh…yeah you…can trust us. I promise…” I had no reason not to keep it. I’m good at keeping secrets if nothing else. Mainly due to my terrible memory but still… high now that I think about is ironic since my soul type deals with memory.

 

Though I have been noticing some improvements…

 

“See? So please tell us what’s going on. Whatever this is it threatens  _ both  _ of our homes right?” 

 

My hands tightened at the realization that this…threat…could hurt or even kill everyone I care about.

 

My family, my few friends, and my world…

 

_ I refuse. _

 

I was snapped out of the haze by an anxious Frisk, and I notice the red and yellow sparks coming off of my fingers.

 

“Just worried is all…but Chara is more important right now.” I reassured her and after a few calming breathes I gave the ruby eyed girl a pleading look. Her resolve faded as Frisk tapped in, and she scratched her neck in an odd habit. Before finally giving in.

 

“Okay…I was supposed to be telling you anyway…thanks for getting me to man up.” 

 

Any time…

 

She took her own calming breaths before beginning. To my shock, a black and red liquid fell from her pores, and I could her mutter some type of spell. 

 

Then in an explosion of light and dark I lost consciousness… 

  
  


I snapped awake, finding myself in a white void alongside Frisk, though she seemed oddly familiar with the location. I couldn’t see much, only what seemed like the outline to various structures.

 

“Uh…where are we?”

 

Chara was largely silent staring at the outline of a bubble of nothingness. She silently beckoned us forward and after some hesitation I followed her command. The bubble increased in size until it fully engulfed us, and we were now watching two  _ younger  _ beings sitting morosely on a bundle of golden flowers.

 

I had never seen Frisk look so down, her lips were quivering and I could see the bags due to lack of sleep.

 

“ _ Reset 178…, _ ” young Asriel sounded bitter and frustrated. “ _ Give up Frisk, there is no way to save us. _ ” Chara nodded in agreement, but Frisk wouldn’t accept it.

 

“ _ NO! I won’t accept that! The both of you deserve another chance. _ ” Frisk begged them to reconsider.

 

“ _ Frisk… _ ” Chara’s voice was soft, both due to her youth and her tone. “ _ You’ve done this long enough. Forget about us Frisk, we’ll be okay… _ ” 

 

Frisk looked… _ terrified. _

 

“ _ I’m…afraid…I don’t know what’ll happen once I leave the Underground. I don’t… _ ”

 

Frisk was cut off when Asriel dived in for a hug, and she sunk into his warm fur.

 

“I remember this…this was when we decided to try the…Genocide run.” I could hear the shame and regret in Frisk’s voice.

 

“This was when it all went wrong…”

 

Past Frisk froze up, a distorted voice calling out to her. She looked around, frantically seeking out the desperate call for help.

 

“ **You can save them child…but you must wade through a river of blood to do so. Are you willing to pay the price child of Mercy.** ” 

 

The scene faded into mist and current Frisk was left paralyzed…she looked dazed and nervous, unsure of what to make of the revelation.

 

“I don’t remember that…I.” Chara squeezed her partner’s shoulder, the darker skinned girl sagging under her grip. 

 

“Just take a deep breath and stay calm. It’s all in the past, just relax.” Frisk’s mournful cries died down and the next scene played.

 

I felt my heart clench and my nose wrinkle when the sudden stench of blood and death hit.

 

That was the only manner I had to describe that…smell. What…looked like Frisk was slowly approaching a terrified Flowey as he backed away. Her knife glistened with drops of blood as well as white dust. In the distance I could see Chars screaming in despair… 

 

“ _ FRISK STOP! You…somehow brought me back! I can Reset and go back right now…”  _ despite her protest, Frisk’s eyes remained dull and Flowey cried out.

 

“ _ Please…don’t kill me! _ ” Frisk leaped… 

 

I felt sick with each agonizing slice. I closed my eyes as I heard the sobs of Asriel as he begged for mercy, each cut filled with more hate and more rage than the last. Finally it ended, and I opened my eyes to see Frisk’s boot crushing Flowey to powder and stem remains.

 

I felt like I was going to throw up…

 

“ **You…why…why, why, why, why, why, why!** ” Chara went ballistic, her ghost form flickering and shimmering until it became completely solid. She tore the knife straight out of Frisk’s hand and in a fit of anger… 

 

Ripped her open…

 

F-From my vantage point I could see her internal organs and I knew I was going to have nightmares after this. Chara’s mania faded and she leapt back from Frisk’s empty gaze not even reacting to bleeding out.

 

“ **What…is this? I don’t understand…** ”  Chara collapsed to the ground, ending it with a hurl throwing waste onto the floor. Black liquid poured out of her veins, tainted with…something horrible.

 

“ **Ohhh…But it’s quite simple really.** ” From the ooze, a figure leaped from behind, its claws scraping off flesh and I felt even more sick. 

 

“ **I have been waiting a** **_looong_ ** **time for this. You will be my vessel, my avatar of destruction. Convincing the child to walk on this path, was just the first step.”**

 

“G-Get away from me…stay away!” Chara’s voice cracked in sheer terror and I stepped forward until I remembered this had already occurred. Frisk looked utterly horrified, and I likely had the same expression.

 

As the ooze slowly covered over the struggling girl, the  _ thing  _ grinned and I…

 

Get away get away get away…. 

 

_ Monster…hideous abomination… _

 

_ T̡͉̝̱̟̼̠h̙̬e̞͢ ̲̼͍̲ȩ̯̻̜̰͖̭n̨̻̱̙̻̦d̯̤͇͎͎̝̝ ͇̺̣̰̠̹̀o̜̜̻̮̜̘f͎̠́ ̹͚̘e̙̦̰̻͔͍v̭̜̻̱̺̕ḙ̫̳̺̼̘̦r̴̟y̴̼̙̤̘̮̹̠t̢͍h̹͕͉̼̪͠i͎͍͎̤̪ͅn̘̙͇̣̜g̡̮̝̟…̮̼͚͖̩͙h̻͔͓a̝̭r̭̱͈̲v̲̙͍̮̘͎̻ẹ̼̳͚͘ͅs̭̤̠̭̯̥̩͟t͉̲͓̩͓͍e̸͎r̷͈̹͖͎ ̷o̺͖̱͖̲f̝̱̩͔ ̧̭̩̖̮̻̙a̩̘͕̥͔ ̻̲͍b̵̼̮̤i͎̯̭̤̭͈̮l̮̩͓̳͓l͓̹͙̀i̧̫̯̠̻ͅo̹̙͚͉̖͇̻n̲̣̙͖ ̡̞̼̤͎̮̫͚s͢o̧̱̖̣̺ùl̟̥̞̮͕̩͝s͏͔͇̟.̲̰̤͇͚̝ ̷̟̖W̗̲a̬̺̖̖͝l̯̞͈̹k̜̝ìn̞̰̤̬̣͔g̩̼͎̱,̻͖͖̯̘̳̗͟ ̻̻̖̗̜c̶͖r̙̰̪a̼͔̦̪̝̺w͕̙̳͟l͔̹͠i̲n̞͕͔̤̟g̨̯̗̟ ̺̺͙̘͜c̶̲͕h̞̰a̹̙̹os͙͕̼͜,̡͎͚̺̮͎̟̳ ͖͙̥͠d̹̱͚̗̮̖e̶̻̩̩m̵̥ͅo̹͙͢n̪͙͝…̻̣̳̟̩̥ͅC̱͇̻̩͔͚H̶̰͓̯̝A̙̬̞̙̫͝O̧͉͙̩̜͎̠ͅŞ͎̪ ̘̣̙̲̞̟͎C̗H̺̻͈͈A̢O͚͠S͚͎͓̹̰ ̩̦̟̱̬̙̯C̵̱̳̪̟̦̹̭H͉̠̟͕̹̫̝A̞͍̜̲͡O̵̦̟̹͔ͅS̺͕̩̤̪ͅ!̵͍̙̖ ͖͉͢E̬̪͜n̺͇̯͕̕d̰ḷ̬̹̣̜e̶͔͖̦s͉̣̜s̰̼̳̩̳ ͏͓̦̳̻̠ͅç̣̬̟͇̪͓ṵ͉̻͢t͙̯̰̕t̛͔̙͓͖͎̱̲i͏͈n̙g͇͙̲̼͖̳ ̤̪̫̬ͅͅs̬͇͕̹̯̭h͉a̻̮͙̞̱͚̫ḏ̻̪̀o̮͈̯̳̪w͔s̻̥̬͕̗̭̟…̣̫̙̙ ̪̰̳ _ _   
_ _ ̬̫̣̜ͅ _

 

I screamed back, falling on my ass as my eyes screamed at me to turn away from that… _ thing.  _ I felt someone pick me up from the shivering mess I was reduced to. I wrapped my arms around them, my sheer terror breaking any sense of embarrassment I had.

 

I had never been more terrified in my life… 

 

I looked up, my eye gazing into the knowing rose red of Chara. She seemed to understand, and I shivered imagining how much pain that  _ demon  _ had put her through. My grip tightened despite my returning logic, and I promptly let go shortly after.

 

“Uh…I…uh.” She gently patted my head to my confusion, and I stiffened as I realized Frisk had seen that thing too.

 

“Frisk?” 

 

The girl was shaking and the two of both moved to her side. Chara was the first to do anything however, offering her a shoulder to cry on. She seemed to be more overly sensitive to that  _ foreign  _ thing than either of us. 

 

Eventually after a moment to get our bearings we moved on to what came next.

 

“That…being took control of me, and through me took even more direct control over Frisk. It proceeded to Reset, not just once…but many thousands of times.”

 

The mist gathered once again, two clouds solidifying into two beings.

 

_ —Play Megalovania— _

 

I blinked as sunlight from a certain cathedral hit my eyes. There I could see sans watching Frisk, her eyes hidden in shadows. She had stepped forward… 

 

“it’s a beautiful day outside. birds are singing. flowers are blooming… on days like these, kids like you…”

 

“Frisk” smiled, her knife lifted up and glowing with blood red energy. She was ready to FIGHT.

 

In the time it took to take a single breath, dozens of beams impacted where the vessel had once been. I could hear the signature sound of damage, but not the shattering of a human soul.

 

“ **Should be burning in hell!** ” 

 

A shockwave threw me back as the two beings clashed and we were thrown out of the scene.

 

The mists reshaped themselves again and again and again… 

 

The vessel betraying Toriel at the last minute… 

 

“No matter how much I screamed for it to stop…no matter any deals I tried to make with it…”

 

Playing and torturing the weaker monsters over and over and over again… 

 

_ It  _ crushing Papyrus’s skull underfoot with mad laughter…

 

“All it did was kill and torment, over and over. A nightmare without end, without…Mercy…”

 

Killing the dog guard with no remorse, shattering Greater Dog’s spine against a rock…

 

“With each Reset IT became more violent…more sadistic and cruel.”

 

Emptying the Underground of its people over and over again, leaving only the strongest alive to fight… 

 

Pinching Muffet’s arms off like a child doing so to an ant…

 

An endless array of different manners of killing and slaughter…hundreds of gut wrenching scenes playing so many times.

 

Reset…after Reset…after Reset…

 

“I grew so tired of this…I wanted to…to die.” I grit my teeth, saying nothing as Chara continued her explanation.

 

The first hundred passed like a breeze, the one thousandth was a violent and bloody celebration, but as thousands of Runs were added, I could see that  _ thing  _ grow tired and bored… 

 

“But in between Resets…a savior came…the Royal scientist scattered across countless universes. Together we plotted a desperate plan, a final gambit if you will…we needed an incredible power to destroy that  _ abomination  _ once and for all.”

 

We were in the Judgement Hall once again…yet this time the hall was empty of life.

 

The Anomaly grit their teeth, leaving deep furrows in the ground with every hasteful step. Their host heaved forward surging past until they reached the area where Asgore and Flowey would once have been.

 

In their place…stood a certain doctor, lying completely still…he looked…different.

 

H͎̭͉͇̼͚̲o̯w͕͈̞̖͇…͇̯̖̥̫ͅv̬̞̫e̥͙͖̜͔͡ͅr͖̮̠y̭̺̫̱͟ ̙i̩̫̥͝n̜̥͇͔̮͡t̪͚͎̮̖ͅe̸͙r̻̗͍͇̼e̯̞͎̰͈s͕̣͇̜̣̼ͅț̤̝i̷̮̩n͎g̪…̰̖͡y̴̯̩o̳̩͓̳͔̝̕ṷ͚ͅ ̦̲͔͜ͅa̤͜r̡̘̝͉̼ȩ̖̬̝ ͖̱̼͖̻̬̰a̞̙̙̞͍n̲̻̪͢om͔̥̯a̶̖l̪̟̺̠̜͞ý ̳̣̣̮c͈̥̖͉̻̥̹͘o͇͈̮̣̣͎̲r͕̮̞̤̬͔͕r͇̞̼̟͡e҉c̲̱͔͔͕t̬̖̪͇͓͔?̻̼͝ ̤͓͙͕͢I͚̯t̞̼̪̗̀ ̷̲̘̫̟͕̳i͔̟̥s̨ ̭̞͕͟g̙̤̠̖͠o̦o͙̫̻̺̰̠͈͞d̪̦̠̻͕͢ ͘t̲̤o͝ ̴̻̪f̷̭͍̤į̤͇̖n̵̻̦̺̘a͍̥̮̘͚l̼̣̖l̦͎̳͍͎̟̦̀y̖̘ ̛̥̼m̡̩̠̪̬̼̠e͉̬̠̹͚̼̟e̛t̹ ͎̱͖̪͟t̞̲̳̫̯͖h̲̱̰͕̬͍e̯̮͎͘ ̵̪̳͓̺̟̥͚o̮͎͔̟̕n̶̜̙̘e͉̤͘ ̼̗̼̱͉͓̙r͏̱͚͚e̼̼͡s̙͔̬̗̳͉͇p̕o͙̳̲͕̯ͅns̶̫̞̬i̞̯̣͘ḇ͕l̻̣̖ͅe̼ ̭͇͕̥f̣̦͍o̸̰̦r҉͓̼ ̩̩t̡̰̙̪͇͖̮͈h͎̕e̷̼̦̼̺̳͔ ̣̪͕͚̲͓d͚̜͔͚̱e͎͍a̵̭̙̠̲̖̩̲t̴̳͓̖h ͉̫̠̯͜of̰ ҉̞͇̻ḿ̹̩y̧̩̪͕͇ ̡͖p̰̦̤̬̭̬̪e̴̲̪͈̪̜̲o̖̯͎̼ͅp͝l̞e̮͔̼̖͔̙̪ ̴̮̜͇̙a̦nd̯͞ ̯͚͚̺͕I̸̗̳͖̟͙ ͕̥̦͈̯͟k̦̮̘̬̠̮͈͞n̦͚͡o̘̘̹͉̦w̵̞ ̻͠w̖̩̱͟h͙͉̟͙̪͝a̘͇t̯̪̝ ̙̼͍̳̣͚̥y͙̫͚̱̝o̜̻̕u̦̻̮̘ ͉̰̘̙̦ͅw̡̫̼a̤̝̹͙̠̠̙nt…͉   


 

I could barely make heads or tails over what he was saying, but I could hear the contempt and rage in his voice all the same.

 

“ **Let me past useless creature…I have finished my game in this place of monsters. Now there’s a** **_new_ ** **game, a hundred million humans to play with on the surface** ”

 

The doctor surged forward throwing a punch right against her gut. A sonic boom echoed and she was thrown against the stone frame of the entrance to the garden.

 

I̦̪̞͎͚͖ ̵̩̻̦̫͇̠̯ca̞̬̗ņ͔͇ ̯̮̠̠̬̙͡n̺̝̝͔ͅọ̮̳̙͕t͏͓͉͓ ͇̫̠̞͖͚̹ị͈͎̻͓n͔͈͕͢ ̦̬g͍͙͎̗̲̗͜o͖̟o̭d͙̝ ͎͔̰̝̦c̩̮͔̫̞̱͢o͇̻n̤͠s͎͈̬c͇̪͟ͅi̻͞e̙̜̣̹̺̕n̛͉̟̙͓̘c̠e҉̺ ̟͔̟̥a͉͕̰͘l̦̰l̞͜o̜̞̟̰̳̞w̻̩̕ ̝̙̹t͏̰͍͇̮̣͔h̪̤̤͈a͈̜͕̤͝t ̼̳̖̜̗t̛o̯̩̘͝ ͎h̦͚a̷̞̜̬̭͙pp̘̠ę̼̣̼̹̫n̤̠̫̮̝͉̭͘.̨͓.͉͔͎̻͚̜ͅ.̜̹̘h͍̬͓͝um̭̗̠͘a͓̞͓̱͜n̦̱͎͔i͔̘̖̜͓͢ţ̼͈y̛̙͈̝̤͎ ̹̥͉͎̹̘s̱͉̗̤h̫o͓̟̣͕̞ul̴͙̭d̜͖̟ ͈͇̦͔̦̬̙n͓̬̤̙̭̠̪o̬̠͕͘t̴̳ ̛̪͉͚ͅp͕̘ay̱̯̠̞̯̭ ̛̠̱̺̯̮̗f͏̹̠̯̰̳̞o̘͉̳̣͓̮͙r̺̯̞͇̦̭ ̜ṯ͝h͎̹͎̩̪e̦̣ ̖̱̭̘m̡̝̳̗͕i̝̼̤̺͇̠̕ṣ̨̮̱t̝͕̦͜ͅá̲̼̳͇k̫͇͈̳̗͎e̫̻̻s̥̟̳͔͙̙̦ ̼ǫ͖̻̺̺̠ͅf͝ ̠̜ṯ̯͜h̠̕e̥̭̞i̤͍̦͎̼̙ŗ͖̩̩ ̢̪a̤͚̬̟̗̕n̩͈̜͖c̷͚e̹s̵̟͎̺̪͇̱t̗̤̯͍̳͈̕or̖s͜ ͟m̡̳̹͖̠̺o̩̼̕r̯̭͈e̘̩̥̹̲͉͞ ̫̤t͏̰̪̬h͈̹͈̦̱͡an̙̲͔̥̰̦ͅ ̯̗t̩̘̝̪̩͎͞h̥̯͈͕̬e̩̬̲̲̥y̙̞͖ ͕̪͖ḁ̢̘̻l̖̝͈̱̳̰r̦̲̹̥̗ͅẹ͓̘̼͈̫̤a̻̼d͙̜̲̞͓͝y̺̺͔͇̫ ̦̤̖ḫ̭͖͢ḁ͚̟͚v̖͈̯̰͜e̴̖.̵̮͕̜ͅ ̟͕͓̝͍̼̖A͎̟͍n̛̻d͉̪̬͈͠ͅ ͉̜y̭̮͎͉̜͍̙ó̼u̵̮͚̣̲ͅ ̵̹w̷̪̤̣̜i̭̗̤̼l̼͈̳͙̠̝͡l͖̭̘ ̶͎͚̤n̵ͅo̧̙̯ţ͍̟͚̲̫ ͔̼̦͖͎͙b̳e͙̯̮͔̜̲̙͘ ̴̠̥̳͕͚s̺̪͎̬̯͎ͅa҉̜̗͍̜͚t̯̮͓̠͙i̪s̵f̼̯͈̼i͜e̛̘͎͉͈̱d̨̰͙͈̤̼̬͇ ̙̻̮w͢i̸̜̟͇̲̱̤ͅt̮͉h̭͍̥̱͙̙͉ j̡̬u̩̣͠ͅs̬͎̫̫̤͢t͕̟͓̫̜̟ ͙̞͇̮͖̭ͅt̡͓̝͓h͚̰̮͡i̛̪̩s̢ ̼̱̪̩̕w҉͉̩͍̝͎̫o̱͖r̞̭̗͓͇̭̕ḷ̶̹͔̲̫̖̙d̵̜̞̻̲̫͈,̶ ̹̖͙͍͢ý͇̣͖͉ọ̖u̱̻̣͍̖͍̝ ̠̙͇̖̺̥̖w͚̬i͎͓̤̣̙̱ͅl̟l͇̮̠͎͎̗͖ ͏̘͍c̣̞̩̬͖͜o͓̗͡n͇̬͇s̶̱̤̻̲͓̝u͙͎̗̦͔̝̙m̰e̫̼͎̗̲̜͜ ̘͍͇͉͉c̙̣̤̞̘o͚͖̯̮̯̠͈u̢n҉̳t͡l͎̲̖̺e͏͙̞̰s̜̥̝̟̠̥͚ś̖̪̠͙͍̥ ̶̟t̺̹į͙ṃ͇̣̤̲e̷̝̣̯̭̺̺l̹͝i̯̣̲̟̥͇͠n̗̠̪̝͟e̪͝s͉ ̴̞̝̱̬̞ͅan̵̼̘̘d͕͎̕ ̼̞̣̰I̟̱̩̫̰ ̵͍͙͍͍̦ͅw̢̬͈͍̱͓ḭ̸l̴̹̣̤͕͖̙̜l̹͖̩͡ ̪̲n̸̝͚͈͓̝̫o̪̻̠̫̱t̸̹̮̙ a̭̲̯l͏̮̳̹̰̝̯͙ḻ͚͓͎ow͚ ̭͚̱̳̀t̴̘̟̤̬͎͈h҉̮̻̱̪a̻̗͙͍t̢̩̻ ţo̰͟ ̫̹h̳̙a̞͇̝̜̩̯̣p͓͚̲͓̳̲͜p̯͎̙͇͇̬͠e̺̩̞n͚͎͕.͎̳͙̮ͅ

  
  


“ **You have no allies to protect you forgotten one.** ” The Anomaly grinned madly until several fireballs and bullets scored hits against them. They did negligible damage and the beast only laughed.

 

“YOU!” Flowey roared despite the fear and terror in his voice, and I could hear the traces of Asriel within him. “LET THEM GO YOU…DEMON!” Standing beside him was the king of monsters. His trident shining with light and shaking with raw magical power.

 

“YOU WILL FALL HERE! HERE AND NOW IS OUR FINAL BATTLE!” For once Asgore sounded like a true king and the Anomaly laughed.

 

“ **HAHAHAHAHA! Are you serious? I have killed you with supreme ease! You have no power here!”** She sowed doubt in their minds yet Gaster calmed them down. He gurgled and coughed, holding his chest in pain.

 

“You…are a fool…you could have been king of this timeline. Of this world,” The smile was wiped off of the Demon’s face. “If you had been more careful…” the entire Underground started shaking and the Anomaly took another step back.

 

“ **What…excuse me?** ”

 

“You knocked on the door, and the door has opened.” Hundreds of monster souls orbited around Gaster and his two allies accepted their own fate, two sharpened bones dusting them in an instant. Asgore’s soul was absorbed along with the many thousands of monsters both living and dead, Flowey became a physical vessel as he had been designed to be.

 

The Anomaly grit their teeth as six glass containers shattered against the flower bed, six souls pulsating with boundless energy and infinite life.

 

“You let the door open on your way in…and  _ that  _ is your downfall  _ demon. _ We have been plotting your demise for…what a thousand Resets?” The beast of Genocide twitched and their vessel’s eyes widened as their left hand lifted itself into the air.

 

It curled it’s fingers before… 

 

Plunging its hand through her chest…and ripping out a raging soul of determination.

 

“ **You…you…** ” The mask of calm broke and its fingers brushed uselessly against the fleeing SOUL. 

 

The soul was caught in the broken palm of Gaster, promptly being absorbed into his body. The six fallen humans followed in pursuit, and an explosion of light followed… 

 

The Underground had turned to dust, now in this plane of white I could see only Gaster and…the Anomaly…I could a shattering sound in the background, the barrier collapsing…but not fading…

 

Gaster smirked and a blast of wind would have knocked us all down if it wasn’t for this place being an illusion. The multi colored shards of the barrier circled around him, gathering together before also being absorbed by him.

 

The Void circled around him, lifting him up in gale wind of bending spacetime…around him the illusion of the void disappeared and I could see a white hole where Mount Ebbot once stood. I could see the human city and it’s people back away in terror, “Frisk’s” face distorted black ooze obscuring her face and burning through the earth of the void.

 

She smiled madly. “ **_Fools!_ ** **All you have done is give me a** **_hundred million_ ** **souls to feed on! Enough to destroy this pitiful world once and for all!** ”

 

Gaster shook his head, disappointment clear to see in his glowing pupils.

 

“You can absorb their souls since you are neither human nor monster correct aberration?”

 

“ **What’s your point?** ” The Anomaly asked, her arms glitching every once in a while.

 

“But the same applies to us as we are now…” 

 

The beast of Genocide’s eyes widened and she rushed to the town…

 

“ **Too late!** ” I was blinded by an eerie red light, forming a vast arcanogram across the several mile wide crater over Ebbot.

 

Sudden screams echoed out as the array spread, hitting the town within milliseconds. I felt a sickening ickiness, like worms crawling under my skin as the screams of agony echoed. From the town several thousand souls were reaped… 

 

The first of  _ millions _ more. 

 

Our view spread farther out, and I could see for myself the planetary genocide taking place… 

 

Not just humans…even if this was just a memory I could feel the cries of… _ trillions  _ of animals of all levels of complexity.

 

“ **You think we’ll let you destroy the universe? Think again monster!”**

 

The scene exploded with a rainbow of light.

 

“ **GRAAAAA!!! DAMN IT!**

  
  


I jumped as the Anomaly snapped awake, the pissed off demon looking around in the true emptiness of the Void once more.

 

One single figure stood their ground, and it wasn’t Gaster…

 

Chara had her eyes closed, and I could see the black stripes painted from her lower eyelid down to her cheeks. Her outfit resembled Asriel’s own hypergod of death state, and she smirked half heartedly.  

 

“ **You…!** ” They hissed against the oddly calm princess, their fists clenching hard enough to turn coal into diamonds. “ **That was my power…I** **_needed_ ** **it. You completed what** **_we_ ** **were meant to do! I will not allow a weak, sniveling** **_mortal_ ** **to take that from me.** ”

 

She opened her eyes… 

 

The beast stilled and I froze under that gaze too… 

 

Within those eyes…I could see the determination of an  _ entire  _ world coming together. A galaxy spun within those blazing orbs and she stepped forward.

 

“ **You’ve been around the block a few times haven’t you? Gaster’s told me a bit about you. You were scattered across the multiverse, taking countless forms all trying to accomplish the same tasks if in different manners.** ”

 

In the void different bubbles popped and sizzled from the air. 

 

“ **In one world you created an unending cycle of Harvest and suffering.** ”

 

A galaxy seemed to cry out as as seemingly endless fleet of ships darkened the skies of  _ every  _ world.

 

“ **In another…your hatred created the basis for beasts of darkness and destruction.** ”

 

From a horrifying pool, millions of twisted monsters arose to slaughter humanity for their sin of merely existing.

 

“ **And in even worse universes you combined them into a horrifying amalgam.** ”

 

The reaping fleet appeared once again, shuddering as black liquid poured from out of them, creating an endless flood of nightmares.

 

“ **And in this one…this aspect merely toys with our section of the multiverse, biding its time until it can join its fragments in the annihilation of existence.** ”

 

Oh…gods above and below us…I might not be religious, but with this I don’t give a fuck…

 

“ **You will still fall…** ” the Genocider continued to threaten her. Her expression became inhumanly twisted. “ **You think this is the only timeline I have acquired? I am fueled by** **_billions_ ** **of human souls, countless world just like this one, you are** **_no_ ** **DIFFERENT!** ” I held back my disgust as the hideous thing transformed.

 

Frisk’s body was melded into the swelling flesh of the Anomaly, and I flinched at the countless screaming forms of humans and monsters alike. A swaying mound of flesh and melted dust held together by an alien spite and hatred.

 

Chara was unmoved by the unholy monstrosity, the vortex of suffering and anguish grew to the size of a mountain, seven bleeding arms casting shadows on the cracking void beneath them. Every single part of that monster made me feel disgust, and it reminded me of the Rod Reiss Titan in all its inhuman horror.

 

Chara smirked and her form shifted, the full horrifying form of the DEMON remained unamused as Chara increased in height over eighty times. The form becoming increasingly familiar yet not… 

 

Cosmic wings spread, glowing bright with the light of a million twinkling stars…her eyes shined brightly, illuminated by millions of gathered souls.

 

“ **You won’t win** **_DEMON._ ** **This is the end of you, and if it’s not, I’ll kill you until you** **_stay_ ** **dead.** ” Several letters loudly and proudly proclaimed the amalgamations name.

*** CHARA**

*** HyperGod of Life and Death**

 

_ It’s  _ tattered lips broke out into a wide smile, exposing  _ hundreds _ of rows of shape teeth.

 

“ **Good at least you’ll make this fun before I rip you apart molecule by molecule!** ” 

 

_ —Play Barricades Eren vs Rod Reiss— _

 

The Anomaly aimed simply to crush Chara under their immense metaphysical bulk, billions of tons of writhing flesh barreling down on the much smaller god.

 

She grinned… 

 

**BOOM!**

 

Despite the gulf in SOUL power, a single outstretched palm was enough to throw IT back by several miles. Incomprehensible amounts of damage was taken as a wave of pure blue energy melted and seared endless hungering meat.

 

“ **W-What?** ” Chara responded not with words, but with blasters… 

 

_ Millions of blasters… _

 

The Anomaly shrieked, it’s body boiling and exploding under an endless barrage of plasma and magic. Chara launches forward, and with a roar threw what looked like a damn black hole, the singularity burning a fleshy arm off.

 

The Anomaly flipped as the ball of darkness flung back around, the lost arm regenerating and with a blue flash of light shattered the gravitational comparison of spacetime apart.

 

Without nary a sound, the Anomaly flew back, demanding me of Cell in its movement. An eighth arm swelled up like a growth evening out its hideous form. It’s hands shook before it screamed, opened an impossibly wide maw.

 

“ **DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!** ” With each scream and hoarse yell a superheated beam of reality destroying energy struck the cosmic being in front of them head on.

 

Yet despite all odds, GOD kept marching toward them filled with intent…

 

“ **Did you really think you stood a chance against us? Every SOUL within you hates every aspect of your very existence. But** **_we_ ** **are working together, to END you. To SAVE the SOUL of the WORLD.”**

 

Hundreds of blue balls of light struck, and the ANOMALY screamed in more pain, tortured flesh sloughing off with each hit.

 

A missile like ball of orange energy landed toward CHARA only to be rebuffed by a clear blue wall.

 

**Patience**

 

I felt shivers run down my spine, as the sound felt like it reverberated from every sections of both this room and my mind.

 

The good amalgam leapt into action, launching a orange flaming fist straight through  _ It’s  _ gut. A sonic roar seemed only to bolster the amalgam of human and monster, and it pile drived the Beast with the force of an asteroid impact.

 

**Bravery**

 

The voices only grew louder, and I could pick up the voices of the seven fallen humans the loudest. Their left eye glowed, and I felt satisfaction as the Anomaly ate shit, it’s many faces all getting a taste of the Void with hundreds of telekinetic attacks.

 

“ **DIE! WHY WON’T YOU DIE!?”** The Anomaly shattered two of its arms as Chara  _ reinforced _ her stomach and chest region.

 

**Integrity**

 

Chara elegantly dodged the mass murderer’s clumsy attacks, dancing around them with ease and purpose. With each step her opponent took, a purple glowing trap was sprung, damaging and slowing the beast down.

 

Chara  _ burst  _ out of the way, throwing a purple punch and shattering the Demon’s jaw. She threw out several more lightning quick blows, each hitting a precise weak spot. The Anomaly was brought to their knees, and then promptly thrown into the air by dozens of ropes and with a  _ SPLOSH  _ its eight arms were torn off.

 

**Perseverance**

 

In midair the Beast regenerated, and all eights of its limbs crashed against a green barrier, many hundreds of miles across. It grinned madly, and from below Chara’s feet a dozen limbs struck through her body…

 

Yet…

 

The wounds healed, a green sea of magic repairing her… _ their  _ body… 

 

And once it was done, that sea flowed right out freezing the writhing monster in place. Millions of souls frozen and turned  _ green. _

 

**Kindness**

 

From all around, tens of millions of projectiles fell upon the one responsible for so much suffering and death.

 

Bombs, missiles, flying knives, swords, axes, and spinning spears and bullets. For all their differences I could see they all wanted the same thing. Once the spell broke  _ IT  _ tried to attack only to be mowed down by a firestorm.

 

I winced and gagged as flesh bubbled up and popped like grease.

 

**Justice**

 

The voices I was hearing became a symphony louder than a car, louder than an entire city. Like the very voice of the planet was speaking together.

 

Space-time folded in on itself, Chara was teleporting continuously, and the enemy was drained more and more with each session of attack. The beast lunged only to realize it was a mere mirage.

 

Chara threw dozens of attacks all enhanced by a red light…and the Anomaly was screaming…

 

**Determination**

 

The Anomaly collapsed to their knees and heaved, throwing millions of gallons of fluid onto the floor…

 

God that’s disgusting… 

 

“N-No this…shouldn’t be possible…no…no…no…NOO!” The body was starting to melt apart, the souls within her shattering to pieces by the millions. 

 

Chara opened something…an ancient and cracked SAVE file.

 

“ **I’m going to do more than just Reset. A normal Reset and you would simply come back at full power.** ”

 

Her hand hovered over the button…and she…

 

**Reset**

 

Grasped it in her hand…slowly crushing it in her palms… 

 

**Re** **set**

 

The lettering and wording changed to something…something  _ new…  _

 

**Rewrite**

 

Chars sighed with a relieved smile that in any other circumstance would have gotten my heart beating.

 

“Goodbye…”

 

The Beast lunged, but in the end it was too late to stop it…

 

In those final moments of existence, it lost hold of its countless souls, and the multiverse was freed from its grasp once and for all.

 

**Let there be light.**

 

We were thrown from the vision… 

  
  


I fell straight on my ass the moment we were knocked out of that Void. My heateate was at thousand beats a minute, the images I had seen long since burned into my mind.

 

Dear…god that’s a fucked up background, and even then I still don’t know much about their lives  _ before  _ this shit started.

 

And if Gaster said that thing is still around…oh god…

 

Wait… 

 

CHARA!

 

I stood up, shaking my head as I became woozy from standing up too quickly. 

 

The grass was still undisturbed from our little trip, and Chara looked as dizzy as I felt. Frisk was gripping her hair tightly, a grimace visible on her face. I honestly suspected I was going to have nightmares for a while.

 

But…Chara…she looked exhausted…

 

“H-Hey…are you…doing alright? You don’t look so hot.” Chara smiled lightly and I  _ burst  _ over to her as she fell. Frisk helped setting a few platforms to break the fall and hold her up.

 

I held back a squeak as Chara’s nose met with mine, her eyes looking through me.

 

“Sorry…just doing… _ that  _ tends to leave me a little tired, and remembering  _ that  _ has taken a toll on me.” She explained with a lack of emotion and worry that gave me a aching pain in my stomach. Though it shifted to disgust at my memory of that  _ monstrosity. _ What Chara had told that thing…the images were hauntingly familiar.

 

And not in a good way… 

 

“Maybe you should rest…you look like you’re going to pass out.” 

 

“That…would be nice…” she leaned in and this time I did squeak when she brushed against me, bumping hips with me.

 

“Try some telekinesis…unless you’re interested in giving her a piggyback ride.” Even Frisk’s teasing has less energy than usual. But it did seem like a good idea.

 

_ Lift.  _

 

_ Pull. _

 

Chara’s soul turned blue and with a hand gesture she followed my steps. Chara went out like light.

 

God…I’m sick of this shit… 

* * *

(Frisk’s POV)

 

I listened to his snores while I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling.

 

Periodically he would shiver, possibly because of nightmares or maybe he is just cold. It was pretty easy to tell that the little guy couldn’t  _ stand  _ the cold. I could feel the contempt and hate come off of him in waves.

 

Which is probably why she trusted him with this… 

 

He’s pretty honest about his feelings…magically anyway. It’s easy to see he’s not intentionally malicious in any way. I can feel some pity but he does seem to hide it a little better… 

 

I think he doesn't want to offend us? Sometime he seems to be overly concerned with how we see him. More that he doesn't want to unintentionally hurt us either.

 

It was cute…and I think it’s just what Chara needs in a friend… 

 

And it’s given me an idea… 

* * *

(Unknown POV)

 

“Come back here you stupid piece of shit!” 

 

No…ignore him, with how disorganized everything is after the barrier was set up, and then put down again I could leave with no trouble. I ran faster, and  _ he  _ lost me in the crowds, an easy thing for a smart seven year old like myself.

 

His voice was lost among the crowds of confused people, and I headed toward  _ that  _ place.

 

The supposed home of monsters…the mountain we were named for, or perhaps the mountain’s named after us?

 

I’m seven I’m not gonna know… 

 

As I crossed into the unusually dense forest, I felt relief that I had brought as much food as possible, as well as some survivalist stuff for the journey.

 

Walking a hundred miles isn’t going to be a fast trip and who knows what’s out there… 

 

_ GAHH! _

 

“M-Metal…here?” I looked up, my grubby little hands touching the smooth metal of what looked like… 

 

A giant golem…a  _ really  _ giant golem.

 

“Woah, it’s like fifty feet tall!” I patted the Iron Giant, feeling a little sad that it seems to be broken for some reason. I think I remember the Magus sending these things off right before…whatever happened in the sky. Something to do with space radiation and climate change?

 

They called them…

 

_ Preservers…  _

 

I took a step wincing as I snapped stick under my foot. That was when I heard the growls.

 

“Woah!” I ducked when some type of…weasel cat thingy tried to rip my throat out.

 

It…was pretty big, like the size of leopard, and also reminded me of a giant wolverine. It leaped a second time, and I ducked a paw slash. I was used to dodging sharp things by now.

 

My hand reached for my knife and it pounced in that moment… 

 

I whimpered as the shadow drew closer, and its snarls showed its enormous fangs… 

 

_ I don’t want to die. _

 

“Ooohaaa! Ooohaaa!” The big thing was knocked back by a big old rock, and I took deep breaths.

 

“I’m…alive.”

 

Wait…what was th—

 

“EEEEEE!” Something  _ big  _ jumped over me, and I felt disbelief as a huge monkey pounced onto the wolverine, bashing a rock against its head until it stopped moving.

 

I used that opportunity to keep running, ignoring the high pitched shrieks of a monkey troop.

 

All around me, everything about this place was different… 

 

It was too warm…the forest was denser than it had ever been, and those animals didn’t exist before. 

 

I even found what looked like giant land Puffins…it was bigger than that basketball player I met, and he had to duck under doors!

 

A giant…fat bunny thing, kinda like a sheep…it was…all so weird… 

 

Iceland had changed… 

 

But I still needed to get there…

 

I’ll reach Mount Ebbot or my name is—

 

“OWWW!” I tripped on a twig… 

 

Anyway…

 

Or my name isn’t Kris!

  
  



	6. Chapter 6: Dating Start

**Chapter Six: Dating Start**

 

“I still don’t entirely understand what that  _ Anomaly  _ is. I know it’s incredibly dangerous and destructive but…” Chara had a frown on her face while I quietly ranted. She let out an irritated huff and I stopped, feeling that maybe I had annoyed her.

 

“That’s the damn thing…the only one who  _ might  _ know is Gaster. What  _ I _ know is that it’s some dimension hopping demon like entity. It persuaded determined souls to give it their souls to increase its power. But  _ where  _ it came from or  _ how  _ it was made is still rather unknown to me.” She looked equally curious, another thing we had in common apparently.

 

I sat against the bench, crossing my arms over my silky smooth black shirt. There was little to do really…we decided to take the day off for any revelations outside of training and that wouldn’t be going on for another few hours.

 

This would…mark my fourth day in the Underground, and that would make it… 

 

October 30th back home…almost Halloween.

 

Wonder what shit we’re getting into now…

 

Makes me ask myself if humans here are just as stupid…

 

Then again these are the same people who decided people like freaking  _ Papyrus  _ were a danger to humanity.

 

“So…” I turned to face Chara as she tried to make conversation. She looked rather abashed, fiddling with her hair just a bit. “Do you have any idea why Frisk has brought us here?”

 

I shrugged. “I have no idea.” She pouted, tapping her nails against the bench as we waited.

 

For whatever reason Frisk had woken me up(by  _ jumping  _ on me!) forced me to change into something relatively neat, but not  _ too  _ neat. She proceeded to send me off with Chara on top of that. So we were waiting for her, while being forced to make awkward and stilted conversation. Though we did manage to find an occasional topic to talk about. Though it veered off into some  _ weird  _ territory at times.

 

Before my questioning on the Anomaly we had been going on about all the times we had put our foot in our mouth. Whether by accident or even intentionally…

 

Yeah…Chara’s said some  _ really _ fucked up shit in the past. Definitely more than I have, and I told someone I wanted to  _ eat _ Guinea Pig.

 

Chara perked up as I heard the sound of boots against wood, and bursting out from the entrance was Frisk…

 

In a tuxedo? 

 

Huh…you know what I think I kinda dig a girl in a tux…

 

“Oh hey Asriel…” I waved politely as Asriel followed behind the fallen human with an exasperated look. 

 

He waved with a weary smile, his sharp teeth visible. “Howdy…and I’m sorry for Frisk. She’s gotten an  _ odd  _ idea into her head. And I can’t really stop her…”

 

What is that supposed to mean?

 

A dark shadow emerged from behind us… 

 

“Wait…Frisk what do you have in your—?!”

 

“SURPRISE ATTACK!”

 

I yelped as I was slammed into by Frisk, who proceeded to grab me by the back of my shirt…she braced her legs and feet… 

 

No…no…no.

 

Don’t you—DARE!

 

**WHOOSH!**

* * *

What exactly is this?

 

I glanced down at the sleeve of the baby blue dress shirt I was forced to wear by a giddy Frisk. It was paired with silky smooth black slacks, and some black dress shoes… 

 

“What exactly  _ is  _ this?” Asriel had a sheepish expression and I narrowed my eyes. I believed I deserved the right to know after being dragged all the way into Hotland at half a mile a second. 

 

“Uh well,” I crossed my arms waiting for my answer. “Frisk sorta…got the idea to set you and Chara up on a…”

 

“A what?” My confidence dropped as my suspicions grew.

 

“A date…” he spit it out and I blinked dumbly.

 

“Come again?” I asked him, confusion tinging my tone.

 

“No…no…stop you stupid cunt! Don’t you fucking dare!” I tilted my head at Chara's voice, and I could hear a scraping sound as she was pushed against the fancy floor.

 

The door was thrown open by the still tuxedo wearing young women, a broad smile painted on her face. Next to her an uncomfortable Chara… 

 

Oh…

 

Oh my…she looks… 

 

“F-Frisk? W-What the hell are you doing?” I flushed as my eyes drunk in the sight in front of me.

 

Chara cleaned up rather nicely.

 

Chara had been forced into a rather form fitting black and white cocktail dress. The dress swooped down from her hips, and I couldn’t help but stare. Her hair had been combed a bit though it was largely the same as usual, outside of a little bow that Frisk had probably added.

 

I…had no words…

 

A prickle of embarrassment started to peak out from behind my bewilderment and Asriel’s previous statement entered my mind.

 

“Are you serious?!” I hissed toward Asriel and he shrugged helplessly. I glared at him, not knowing what to do.

 

“Come on it’ll be  _ fun. _ You both seem lonely so I just thought…” Frisk trailed off as she read our expressions.

 

“What made you think this was a good idea?” I decided that the blunt choice was the right one. 

 

It was sweet of her to try but…

 

But…why is she making that face?

 

“Frisk…don’t make that face. You aren’t going to get your way here!” Chara’s voices cracked, and I flinched as Frisk’s lip started to tremble, how her eyes drooped as they were filled with sadness.

 

“W-What are you doing…? Don’t do that! I’m warning you! Don’t—.”

* * *

I nervously tapped my fingers against the fancy table, sighing at how how easily I was manipulated.

 

Chara was doing the same, the girl placing her head down against the table.

 

“I can’t believe we fell for it…” The redhead groaned into the table, and I nodded in agreement.

 

“It’s not exactly  _ easy  _ to say no that face…but this isn’t so bad right?” She mumbled into the sheer protecting the glass table and I breathed out.

 

“Well…it wouldn’t be if it wasn’t so…public.” I glanced around nervously, swear dropping at the subtle glances the monsters around us were having. They all seemed rather curious and it made my stomach turn. 

 

But I still wanted to throttle Frisk regardless.

 

“What restaurant is this anyway?” She shrugged and my eyebrows furrowed at the decor, various spider web designs scattered throughout this place.

 

Wait is this…?

 

“The Little Miss Muffet Bakery.” Asriel appeared out of nowhere, showing up in the same tux as before with an added name tag.

 

“Did…you really get a job working for little miss spider queen?” Chara’s face split in a wide smirk, and Asriel growled.

 

“Hey!” But he quieted down as from out of the corner of my eye I could see a certain spider monster, give him a disapproving glare. He shut his mouth, and passed two purplish menus into our respective spots.

 

He coughed.

 

“Uh would you like any drinks?” 

 

As a matter of fact…I was rather peckish…and thirsty.

 

“Uh…sure?” Chara gave me an inquisitive look and I gave her a look. I pointed to my stomach and after a moment of hesitation, she understood rolling her eyes but agreeing to my pressing need.

 

I read the menu… 

 

Spider(Apple) Cider, various sodas I don’t recall the name of…some alcoholic drinks I’m not going to bother with…that…Cola…seems like it would work.

 

“Uh…a Boss Cola?” Chara gave me the OK sign. “... _ two  _ Boss Cola’s…” 

 

“Good choice…” he walked up to leave but I stopped him with a glance.

 

“Uh…so is this…do you actually work here? Because if I know Frisk well enough, she didn’t necessarily have time to plan this right?” 

 

Asriel puffed out his cheeks and I almost laughed. “Well yeah. Muffet pays pretty good…and uh…yeah.” Behind us Muffet smiled, revealing cute fangs and he seemed to flush.

 

I feel like I’m missing something here but I don’t know what.

 

He proceeded to haphazardly leave the scene, and Chara’s eyes followed him, amusement dancing in her mesmerizing orbs.

 

Hmm… 

 

“Where’s Frisk anyway?” Chara pointed behind me, and I turned a bit. 

 

Just a few meters behind us, Frisk was fidgeting in her tux while Muffet expected her. I couldn’t hear much of what they were saying… 

 

“Hey,” I met eyes with Chara, a question on the tip of my tongue, but I let her tell me herself. “I want you to try something…” I nodded my head and she gave me a small smile, her face lighting up with the action.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She grinned, and I felt a smile pull at my own lips. “Ok mini magic lesson here. You’ve done Reinforcement already with a sheet of paper right?”

 

I nodded my head, my thoughts going back to some more subtle tries. Managed to find an old penny, and  _ reinforced  _ it. I guessed that it could take a few bullets before breaking.

 

“You can reinforce parts of your body too.” I blinked at the revelation but didn’t understand where she was going with this. She pointed to her eyes and ears. “Reinforcement isn’t just making things stronger, it’s  _ strengthening  _ their very purpose of existence. You got a sword, it’s sharper and stronger, got a gun it’ll shoot with more power and velocity. You have ears and you…”

 

“Make them hear better.” I breathed, as the idea sunk in.

 

She snapped her finger. “You got it in one…are…are you ready.”

 

Thumbs up.

 

“Ok when Reinforcing organic matter you have to think about, it’s composition, it’s structure. Got it?” I nodded and  _ blue  _ and some  _ purple  _ energy flowed, pumping out from my chest and up past my shoulders blades and Adam’s apple. Climbing and nesting within my three ear bones and ear drums.

 

_ Reinforce Hearing 300% _

 

I flinched at the sudden cacophony of sound, and with a deep breath I eavesdropped on Frisk’s conversation.

 

“Ahuhuhu! Oh you’re a real treat aren’t you?” Muffet had a really fancy and almost sophisticated tone, fitting for the monster girl. Though it was rather high pitched at the same time. I almost expected her to do that weird anime laugh some girl characters do.

 

Frisk was twisting her hair into twirls, a shy grin painting a pretty image. “Heh…yep! So what do you say about me getting a job? And if you need a full interview I’ll give it.”

 

Muffet shook her head, her multiple arms swaying with her. “Oh there’s no need for that. You’ll start now if that’s okay, your wage will be 15G an hour. I suppose that should be suitable?” Frisk nodded. “Part timer? How many hours?”

 

“Does eight hours sound good?” 

 

I tapped out of the conversation, promptly informing Chara of what I had learned.

 

“15G an hour is pretty good pay actually.” I followed along, though there was an important question on the tip of my tongue.

 

“Uh Chara?” The young women leaned back, her head tilting the slightest amount.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Do monsters use  _ actual  _ gold as their currency?” Chara’s face scrunched up at my question, and from… _ somewhere  _ she summoned a single tiny gold coin, dancing it between her fingers.

 

W-Wait…but… 

 

“Can I see that?” She nodded and I tried something…

 

Perseverance souls specialize in analysis…and with how much their magic reminds me of the Nasuverse.

 

My aura surged from my fingers, and I gave an estimate of about 3 grams of gold within this coin.

 

…

 

“This gold coin is worth a hundred and eight US dollars.” My…friend froze at my statement, and her jaw dropped.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“Yep.” If Frisk worked eight hours a week for two weeks…and exchanged her coinage for money… 

 

That’s…almost twenty six grand…

 

And if 15G is an average wage for monsters…since they probably don’t need to mine much new gold, that’s easily two trillion dollars of pure gold, and other precious metals.

 

Chara looked rather tickled by the implications, a small smug smile written all over her face.

 

“That is…rather interesting isn’t it?” Oh her tone was  _ smug  _ as hell.

 

Which made sense since it meant that Monsters would be among the richest nations on the face of the Earth. And with how effective their mining machines are, their material output could potentially rival nations like China and the United States.

 

China…made…in.

 

Made in New Home… 

 

_ Pfft… _

 

“You ready to switch with dear Azzy human?” Chara perked up, turning her head to gaze at someone behind me.

 

Her expression shifted substantially, her face slacking, and her cheeks burning. I didn’t have a clue what was going through your head.

 

I turned myself, curious on what would send Chara into such a tizzy as some(no one) would say.

 

…

 

Frisk in a maid costume…

 

She smiled at the both of us, an exasperated Asriel shaking his head but leaving her be for now. It was a traditional(stereotypical?) maid service outfit, and she looked utterly  _ adorable. _

 

But… 

 

I had to mechanically lift my eyes from where they had drifted up to her sizable chest. I might be living with her, but I haven’t been thinking much of it, my mind focused…on  _ other  _ things.

 

“So…?” I blinked while Frisk smirked, her eyes filled with an amused delight. “Are the two of you ready for  _ me  _ to take your orders?”

 

My mouth suddenly felt rather dry.

 

Frisk’s hips bumped against our table, and I pretended that the burning sensation in my cheeks was in my head.

 

Right what…oh a croissant? With eggs, ham and bacon? That sounds like a perfectly normal choice of food…

 

Y-Yes…perfectly.

 

“Uh I want the…Spider Muffin Burger.” Chara coughed, her cheeks darkening as blood rushed to them. Frisk swiftly wrote down her orders, a sardonic smile on her face.

 

“Will that be all?” We nodded and mumbled respectively, and she took that as an answer turning away from, sashaying rather… _ intentionally. _

 

I blinked away my stupor and gave Chara an incredulous look. “What the  _ hell _ was that?” Chara grumbled, refusing to answer my question. She pulled down her bangs, forming a curtain to cover her eyes.

 

“That’s just what Frisk does…she did it back during the early Resets…I honestly have no clue where she got those kinds of habits.” Chara was mumbling, and I couldn’t help but find it rather cute.

 

Which made the fact this was  _ technically  _ a date rather uncomfortable… 

 

“It’s definitely  _ something. _ ” She gave me a knowing warm smile, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Frisk learning on the job. She was doing pretty well actually, she must be good at making small talk.

 

Certainly better than myself… 

“Ughhh!” Chara leaned back, clicking her tongue in almost disgust. “You don’t have to be so stiff! We’re still buddies no matter what kind of ideas Frisk gets in that pretty little head of hers.”

 

Makes sense. This doesn't  _ have  _ to be a date, just a normal hang out with a friend. Getting to know each other.

 

Which reminds me… 

 

I don’t really know much about  _ either  _ of them. I don’t know anything about their non-Underground backstory, their origins, do they have family? 

 

But…I’m curious to find out, at least…some of the small stuff.

 

“I suppose…now uh…so what do we…uh do?” She chuffed, her face scrunching up.

 

“Hmm…we…could just get to know each other? I mean I think it’s what you’re supposed to do when you meet someone new. But then Frisk is the only human I’ve ever really befriended barring one exc—.” She cut herself off, her breathing quickening for a few seconds.

 

“Uh—.”

 

“It’s okay it’s just, some old memories from…a  _ long  _ time ago.” I gave her a weary smile, deciding to leave that topic for another time.

 

What to ask…what to ask…?

 

“So, umm…I don’t know much about you,”  She looked wary, but seemingly open minded too. “Is it fine if I ask about…I don’t know your likes, dislikes?” She frowned, confusion filling her eyes.

 

“I guess? What do you want to know?” Her arms rested against the table as she got comfortable, unfortunately(or fortunately?) giving me a good view of… _ certain  _ parts of the female anatomy.

 

“Pervert.” I blushed at the accusation, resting my eyes on her nose instead.

 

“I’m sorry…I didn’t…well I.” She lifted her right hand an I relaxed. She didn’t look mad, so I think I’m in the clear.

 

“Don’t feel too bad. I already know you think I’m hot.”

 

She was messing with me wasn’t she? 

 

“Still sorry I…don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

 

I really didn’t…I might be a bit of a perv in my… _ likes  _ but if I’m going to be a weirdo it won’t be for those reasons. 

 

“You…didn’t make me feel uncomfortable.” I head her mutter “surprisingly” under her breath. “You’re just not…very threatening.”

 

That’s a good thing I suppose, even if it’s mildly insulting. Better I be a harmless midget with some extra fluff than a potential axe crazy murderous human.

 

“So uh can I ask my questions now? When I’m done you can do next, or uh we switch?” She shrugged with an accepting hum, and I tapped my fingers against the table before beginning.

 

Oh, I’ve got one.

 

“So I know you’re interested in…science I guess?” She nodded. “Is there anything more specific on that? I’m interested in genetic and biological sciences myself.”

 

She showed her teeth with a half-grin. “For me, I really  _ love  _ anything involving space. Astronomy, Astrobiology, Astrochemistry…?” Her eyes were lighting up as she grew more excited. “I’m sure you understand right?” 

 

I felt a grin on my own face at her words. Though it went away as I thought of another question.

 

“Yeah I do but…I do have another question if that’s fine?” She gave a casual thumbs up. 

 

Here goes… 

 

“What are your thoughts on dinosaurs?” I cringed at the words coming out of my mouth. I tended to stick to topics within my own…so I tended to end up scrambling for  _ any  _ topic that might interest me.

 

I should…really try to show some interest in what other people like. But this is a good starting point to veer off into other things.

 

Chara snorted, and I crossed my arms out of habit, feeling some embarrassment creeping up. “Well I think they’re pretty cool…even with feathers…”

 

“Really?” That was a good sign.

 

She waved her hands in the air, looking indignant. “Well fucking  _ duh.  _ They’re  _ dinosaurs! _ They’re one of the few lights I’ve had in my shitty life. And besides, my d—King Asgore looks like a total badass despite his fluffiness. Why can’t a Tyrannosaurus Rex do the same?”

 

I looked around, finding that the neighboring tables were finally minding their business. I no longer had that sensation of being the center of attention.

 

“Well it seems we’re in agreement then princess.” She brushed her hair back at the statement, her eyes twinkling. 

 

“So…” She stopped as footsteps sounded out from behind me.

 

Must have been Frisk with the drinks… 

 

With a light clatter two cups full of monster made soda were placed down onto the table. 

 

“Here are your drinks. Are you two having a good time?” Frisk looked completely  _ ecstatic, _ her eyes darting back and forth as if magic was happening. I still wasn’t entirely sure on what was going through her head with this.

 

I’m not sure if her meddling was just as a distraction from yesterday or a genuine effort to “help” us in some way. I’ll leave her be for now…long as she doesnt try this again I’m good.

 

“I guess…but what exactly did you think was going to happen? We’ve known each for less than a week. It takes more time than that to even develop a  _ friendship _ .”

 

Frisk chuckled nervously. “Honestly…not much. I just thought it would be something to do, and it gave me  _ two  _ cute people to occasionally oogle at.”

 

That’s…flattery right? Because I wouldn’t consider myself to be that attractive, at least in comparison to the two of them. But then again that might be more due to lack of self care than an actual reflection of myself.

 

“Shut it Frisk.” Chara growled and Frisk backed away, her hands gesturing in a placating manner.

 

“Well  _ sorry  _ grumpy pants. I’ll leave you two alone.” Again we were left alone by the brunette young women and she got back to work.

 

“Frisk’s a pretty nice person huh?” Chara seemed a tad despondent, resting her chin against her right hand. I didn’t have much to say, so I decided to take a sip of my drink.

 

Mhmm…holy shit it tastes just like Mexican Coke… 

 

I sipped through the given straw with a happy hum, ignorant to what my table partner was doing. Though a similar sound coming from her direction told me my reaction was enough to convince her to take the plunge.

 

“I suppose if we’re still on the topic of a certain subgroup of Avemetatarsalians I’d like to ask what your favorites are?”

 

Ave…? Oh she  _ really  _ knows her stuff…that would be all archosaurs more closely related to birds. Good…I like a girl with a good knowledge base of Taxonomy.

 

“I suppose I have a strong preference for both Tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurids. Though I guess I could put them all under Coelurosauria if I wanted to.”

 

“Why them specifically?” She looked curious and I was more than willing to answer her.

 

“Feathers of course my good lady as well as above average intelligence. The most bird like and intelligent of all Dinosaurs, and among the most diverse. Seriously while the Tyrant King himself didn’t have any, I just think feathered dinosaurs are cooler.”

 

“You seem pretty passionate about this. For me I kind of like the Megalosauridae more. Especially the spinosaurids and their itty bitty legs. Like sailed super crocodiles!”

 

“Good taste.” I complimented her.

 

She was right…the spinosaurids might not be the Tyrannosaur killing monsters we thought they were, but we shouldn’t think of them that way.

 

At their smallest the Spinosaurini weigh as much an Asian elephant, and are basically crocodiles with  _ fucking  _ death arms and giant sails.

 

Imagine finding that in the Nile River…

 

“Too bad they’re all gone…” We paused, giving a moment of silence for the extinction of such a fantastic line of animals.

 

“Well ignoring birds anyway, they’re still dinosaurs.” 

 

Yep…

 

“Anything else you want to talk about?” I failed in snapping my fingers as I got an idea, having never learned how to do that.

 

“What kind of magic are you capable of? I’ve seen some of it but…”

 

“Oh my trait would be Determination  _ obviously, _ followed by Justice and Bravery in even amounts. I’m supremely built for combat in my distribution of magic. Frisk is more or less the opposite, almost all defensive in nature. And you’re…a bit of jack of all trades. Kinda unique actually, most people are a little more specialized.”

 

“You think it’ll be hard for me to learn?”

 

Chara shrugged. “Who knows? But as long as you put in enough effort, things should be dandy. Besides most thing worth doing in life take effort.”

 

She’s not wrong… 

 

I took another sip, but just as I opened my mouth, it turned out Chara had questions of her own.

 

“What is your world like? How different is it from mine?”

 

…

 

That’s two hard questions to answer, though I may be exaggerating.

 

“Weelll…” I lengthened the word as I answered her. “My world doesn't have any monsters whatsoever. They never existed in the first place outside of stories. I think we’re still in the same time period as when you  _ originally  _ fell.” She blinked at that, curiosity brimming.

 

“So what…the late 2010s?” 

 

“Late 2018 to be specific,” She gestured for me to continue. “And continuing on that, I really don’t know how similar or dissimilar our worlds really are. There might be countries that don’t exist in your world, and countries in your world that don’t exist in mine.”

 

“That’s why I want to know. Because I want to know whether your humanity is better or worst than mine.”

 

…

 

I wouldn’t know…I would put them around the same level probably. At my silence Chara frowned, muted disappointment in her eyes.

 

“Hmm…? Is there anything more mundane that you like? Like anything you like to watch or…” I cut myself off, waiting for the redhead to mull over an answer.

 

“I like anime…” her voice was quiet.

 

“That’s great. I like anime too, though I haven’t been watching too much of it recently. I’ve watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood…a bit of Black Lagoon, and I’m thinking of watching some others.”

 

“Oh I think I have a few recommendations! Maybe we can watch Gurren Lagann…if you’d like.”

 

“That sounds kinda nice…I wouldn’t mind that.”

 

… 

 

So this should make us friends right?

 

“ _ Sooo. _ How are our two  _ lovely _ customers doing today?” I groaned when Frisk came into the picture, a coquettish grin on her face. She held two plates, one for each hand. She placed them down gently, giving us our respective orders. I eyed Chara’s strange burger, the meal reminding me of the McMuffin from...well McDonalds… 

 

“Frisk please…” Frisk pouted, placing her hands on her hips.

 

“Come on I’m just teasing. It’s no big deal.” I only raised an eyebrow but before we could continue, someone nearly ripped the hinges off of the local restaurants door. 

 

_ —Play Metal Crusher— _

 

“ **Well** **_helllooo_ ** **darlings! What a** **_fine_ ** **establishment for the humans to eat at!** ” I could see Muffet working at the counter…she was  _ not  _ pleased, if the cracks she left in the wood were any indication.

 

“Oh no…” I don’t think Mettaton was among Chara’s favorites either.

 

I stiffened as as Mettaton and his little entourage approached, the square robot, letting loose glitter with every roll of his wheel. Asriel was at the next table doing his job, and his eyes narrowed while he served a hot drink to a lizard monster couple.

 

I didn’t say anything as the robot rolled up to us… 

 

“ **Hello humans! I know you’re new around here! But surely you must of heard of me? I am Mettaton! Star of the Underground!** ”

 

“What the hell do I say?” I whispered sharply and Chara shrugged…

 

“ **Hmm?** ”

 

“Uh sure? I’ve heard of you once or twice.” 

 

“ **Oh excellent darling! If it wouldn’t be a bother, would you do yourself the honor of being interviewed by** **_me._ ** ”

 

The fuck…? Why the hell…

 

Chara gave me an encouraging nudge, but I knew she wasn’t doing this for  _ my _ benefit.

 

I can see the amused smirk you have…I know you’re doing this to get you kicks…you crazy beautiful b—

 

“He would love to…”

 

Son of a—

 

“ **That is great!** ” My eyebrow twitched momentarily. The microphone was lifted up, Mettaton nearly knocking my chin off with the sound amplifying device.

 

“Fine…What do you want to ask?”

 

I took a single bite out of my croissant, taking delight in the taste of the monster food.

 

Seriously…monster food is all so good…I wouldn’t mind eating this forever… 

 

Mettaton stopped whirling, now only bouncing in place. 

 

“ **My first question for all our lovely viewers out there. What is your name?** ”

 

Huh…? I guess we never did mention our names to the Underground at large. Suppose it was fair for tell them, since we were their guests and all.

 

“Well I’m Brandon…” I made eye contact with Chara and then Frisk. They both nodded. “These lovely ladies here are Chara and Frisk.” Mettaton briefly raised his Mickey Mouse hand to where his mouth would be, and I was left confused.

 

Ehh…doesn't matter… 

 

“ **What brought you here to Underground?** ” I flinched at the question, for two reasons. One I still had no clue how I fit into this mystery, and the second was that Frisk and Chara had not come here for happy reasons.

 

“To be honest…I have no idea?” The monsters listening in sounded intrigued and I internally groaned. “Could have been due to hitting my head, or some cosmic accident but I only remember going to bed before waking up here.”

 

“ **Ohhhh! What a mystery…surely you are seeking out an answer to your arrival here? Perhaps one of our Royal Scientists can help?** ”

 

“They’re researching I’m sure…” I chuckled nervously, not used to being the center of attention.

 

**Bzzzz…!**

 

Some type of text sound was shot out from Mettaton’s speakers and he let out a passionate “ohhhh!” 

 

“ **It seems one of our viewers haz sent me a question on UnderNet funded and supported by MTT. And it is a** **_very_ ** **spicy question.** ”

 

Chara crossed her arms, and I again ignored my hormones, being more or less used to doing that after a few days. 

 

Chara didn’t seem to have the best impression of Mettaton and I couldn’t blame her. In the original Pacifist timelines he was never the nicest person, though he did learn from his mistakes.

 

“ **Hello…?** ”

 

But then again with this new messed up timeline her could end up being even more of a diva than before. But it did make me rather curious on the Surface.

 

“ **Uh human? Are you there?** ”

 

What was the surface like? They were a century or so ahead of us calendar wise. So that could mean they’re our technological superiors, but their apparently smaller numbers could negate that advantage. 

 

…

 

I wonder if the surface had a Mage school? I could teach it to people back home…

 

The only issue would be the legal ones however. How exactly do you regulate a magical power capable of causing incredible damage. As I am now I could tear a squadron of tanks apart with my bare hands. The stronger monsters could take apart naval vessels. I don’t think a nuclear carrier could take more than a few full power attacks from Undyne or Asgore.

 

Heck Undyne could match the output of an 8000 pound high explosive bomb with only a few spear attacks.

 

“ **Is he okay?** ”

 

“He’s fine…he’s just a bit spacey at times. I’ll get him for you…”

 

**POW!**

 

“MOTHERFU—mhmm…” Chara covered my mouth and my hand swatted against the side of my head, and I could now feel a throbbing headache.

 

“Chara what the heck?!” She pointed to Mettaton with a blank expression of displeasure and I winced… 

 

Ohh…right. Shouldn’t be ignoring that… 

 

I apologetically cleared my throat. “What was the question?”

 

“ **This is from ALPHYS. Her question is…are the three of you and Asriel in a polyamorous relationship?”**

 

… 

 

… 

 

Excuse me?!

* * *

(Undyne’s House)

 

“I can’t believe you sent that Alphy!”

 

“W-Well it's Asriel’s fault for saying Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 was a  _ masterpiece! _ H-He got what was coming to him!”

 

“You know he’s going to get pay back right?”

 

“It won’t be that bad, he’s too much of a softie…”

 

“It isn’t Asriel you’ll have to worry about. You think Chara will really let this go?”

 

… 

 

… 

 

“I-I think I’ve made a terrible mistake…”

  
  
  


Chara’s face was utterly blank. I could not even see a hint of anger, happiness, embarrassment or fear. Only an utterly empty look.

 

Mettaton had been taken aback by her reaction, and cleared his nonexistent throat.

 

“ **Based on your reaction, I take it that this presumption is incorrect no?** ”

 

“I’m going to kill her…I’m going to  _ kill  _ her…” it wasn’t Chara who had spoken up, it was an angry Asriel.

 

“Is there anything else you needed?” I stepped in front of Chara, unsure of whether or not she was going to lunge at Mettaton’s body. 

 

The robot Star was silent for a moment and I felt a surge of  _ magic  _ leap out form his body. 

 

He jumped once, and I could hear Muffet hiss as the floor was cracked under his weight.

 

“ **Indeed there is human! Prepare yourself! Because I have been enlisted in** **_challenging_ ** **you! We shall meet in the battlefield in several days time. And all of the Underground will watch it live! Goodbye darling, see you then!** ”

 

The diva straight up  _ leapt  _ out of the window shattering it, and with it threw several hundred G in the direction of a shrieking Muffet.

 

“Come back here you stupid rectangle! My pet has some words for you dearie!” Muffet screamed launching a bagel at sufficient velocity to punt Mettaton across the street. The diva wheeled away to safety from the spider monsters wrath, and Chara sagged into her seat as the cameras left.

 

“I think I want to leave.” Chara places down the needed coinage for now our meal, and I quietly asked Muffet for two cups to take our drinks with us. 

 

“It’s okay dearie. I’m sorry…that…robot…interrupted your meal. With such… _ provocative  _ questions.”

 

“Especially when they…are so wrong. I don’t like them that way. I can promise you that.” Asriel met eyes with Muffet, though he glanced away swiftly.

 

Why…would… 

 

Oh…

 

“My god…Azzy…are you…are you into…?” Asriel floundered away, cutting off Chara before she could actively tease her brother.

 

And into what?

 

… 

 

Oh my god Asriel is crushing on Muffet… 

 

Huh…? That’s an interesting sight to see. And not one I expected. But then again this is the only timeline where Asriel never died in the first place.

 

Woah!

 

“You got your food?” I grumbled quietly as my hand gripped my sandwich for dear life, and out of laziness if nothing else, threw two balls of  _ blue  _ picking up our sodas. 

 

I flushed as Chara easily picked me up by the scruff of my neck and we left Muffet’s restaurant away in hurry. Waving goodbye to a sheepish Frisk…

 

We were off…to…do something…

 

“So, uh where are we going?” I pretended not to notice how close I was to her while she sauntered off. 

 

A smirk formed on her face. But I didn’t have the same sense of danger any longer. So I didn’t worry this time.

 

“Let's do something less…”

 

“Romancey?” I asked her with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged helplessly and I agreed. This was nice and all but Mettaton kinda made this weird so…

 

Wonder what she has in mind…?

* * *

(Frisk’s POV)

 

“Hah!” I smiled sweetly as Brandon cheered at his victory, the boy smiling as he knocked his opponent off the road.

 

Where they had gotten a game of Mario Kart and a gaming console I had no idea. The two had changed into more informal clothes, Brandon had exchanged his dress shirt and slacks for loose fitting jeans and a plain black t-shirt. 

 

While Chara has gone for a slightly revealing(if comfortable) blue tank top and black yoga pants and no socks. Her toes curling inwards as she kicked the air.

 

I sighed at how dumb I had been… 

 

I shouldn’t have been so pushy with them. It was clear that both wanted to at least try to be friends with each other. But…setting them up together was rather amusing and kept my mind…

 

Off…other things… 

 

“Piss off you bloody midget!” Brandon growled, continuing to move his character forward on the track racing ahead of Chara.

 

“Meh!” He stuck out his tongue, grinning wildly as he raced past the finishing line.

 

“Damn…yo Frisk! You want to play?” Her red eyes were full of competitive spirit and my own Determination rose up to challenge her.

 

Yeah…I think it would be fun…

 

“Sure…” A smile pulled on my face as I jumped onto the couch, landing in between my two fellow humans.

 

… 

 

Despite my current mood…there was still a lingering feeling…of worry.

 

Like something was coming… 

 

… 

 

Meh…I’ll take things as they come. It’s how I’ve always dealt with things and it hasn’t failed me yet.

 

Mostly… 

* * *

(Gaster’s POV)

 

Ahh…how fascinating…I can sense a ripple in the wall between worlds… 

 

Is someone watching? And just  _ who  _ is watching…?

 

The Anomaly? Or something more benevolent, or even neutral…

 

Who could say? But I digress, the concerns of my liege is more important.

 

“You say they willingly gave their SOULS to you?” Asgore sounded uncertain and nervous.

 

I nodded, looking upon the drifting soul projections with affection, developed after decades of raising them from their youth.

 

“Indeed the Surface…was not kind to these children and I thought to give them a better one.”

 

“Yet you isolated them?”

 

I waved off his concerns. “Their choice. They wished to remain hidden for reason I have yet to discern.”

 

They wished to keep their existence a mystery to the Anomaly…

 

“So how will you do this? Destroying the barrier requires someone to absorb their SOULS and the only candidates would be a monster. And power like that is  _ incredibly  _ dangerous.” Toriel was clearly against my plan and I shook my head sadly.

 

“Indeed…it must be done…because I fear that events beyond our control are unfolding. Anomalies in time itself, something you’ve already seen in your son.”

 

“I…what?” Toriel cut herself off at my statement, and I darted my eyes to the chart I had created, years of dust from disuse being brushed away.

 

“You…remember…the incident when Asriel was only eleven years old? How you stopped aging, despite his continuing growth. How a potent source of power started feeding him… _ changing  _ him.”

 

Toriel schooled her expression, her paws shaking. “I-I do…”

 

“And Asgore. You remember the strange boost in power in your pupil. In the Judge?”

 

Both King and Queen looked disturbed and I could not blame them.

 

“There’s something more isn’t there? Something you are not telling us”

 

… 

 

“I see how it is Gaster. Did you ever plan on telling us?”

 

I sighed. “I did…but I needed to gather information. The truth I have to tell you is difficult to hear. And I hoped to put it off as long as I could…”

 

“Will you tell us when the time is right?” I nodded solemnly and it seemed enough for my king and queen. They stepped away from me, still shaken by what little I had told them.

 

I hoped they were strong enough to learn the truth… 

 

**WHOOSH!**

 

I was now alone… 

 

‘ _ We still remain Doctor.’ _

 

I chuckled darkly. “That is true my old friend.” 

 

_ ‘Do you wish to watch the KALEIDOSCOPE?’  _

 

Must you even ask?

 

A holographic screen flickered to life. And in the distance I was given a surprise as I watched an image of an almost alien forest on the surface, full of life unlike any I had ever seen in  _ any  _ Reset.

 

What interested me most was the child drifting ever closer to the mountain above us. One who looked so much like the first and the eighth…yet clearly they were not the same… 

 

Whether they would prove a danger or a blessing…who could say?

* * *

(Kris’s POV)

 

Walking.

 

Is. 

 

So.

 

Painful!

 

Oh gosh my feet hurt so much…maybe…I can rest a bit.

 

I sat down on a rock, relaxing as I stepped off my aching feet for at least a few minutes.

 

Better this than back there…with  _ that  _ person. Here…I could be free…I just needed to find that mountain. My instincts were telling me it was where I needed to go.

 

Don’t know why though… 

 

Just…familiar.

 

“ _ Hisssss! _ ” My hand reached for the small blade hidden on my person yet whatever had made the sound didn’t attack. I craned my neck, my eyes focusing on a small rustling in the bushes. I glanced about just to make sure it wasn’t a horrible ambush.

 

Whatever it was…sounded hurt…

 

“H-Hey.” I made my voice soothing for their benefit. Slowly…gradually I could see a shaky four clawed foot step silently into the plant full forest floor.

 

My eyebrows scrunched together…I don’t know what this is.

 

Kind of reminds me of the foot of a crocodile…but the toes are too long to be that…plus it’s standing  _ on  _ its toes…more like a four fingered bird foot than a webbed croc foot.

 

It stepped out of the bush and I kept perfectly still, unsure of what to make of what I was seeing…it’s not everyday you see…whatever that thing is. 

 

It was small, maybe the size of small dog, ten…twenty pounds? I guess? I’m no biologist… 

 

It’s jaw was short, with long cat like canines showing when it yawned…it’s eye resembled the eyes of a bird instead, built for…

 

Uh binoculor vision? 

 

It silently stalked me despite its limp, but what I noticed the most was the thick and dense coat of fine…hair(feathers?) covering its body. It’s tail was semi flexible, gently waving in the air as it moved.

 

“I don’t think crocodiles are supposed to have feathers…” I muttered out while we circled around each other. It’s feathers blended into the environment, a blend of tawny yellow, kind of like a jaguar.

 

Which is…cool I think? But there was a dash of purple stripes along either side of its face.

 

Is…I can smell blood… 

 

I took a step forward and it let out a growling boom. It’s jaw shivering I was only a foot away from biting distance.

 

I offered it a hand…hoping it wouldn’t try to bite me.

 

Because that would hurt it…more than it would hurt me…

 

My hand shimmered with  _ green  _ and  _ red _ , and the…whatever it was pressed its oddly fleshy snout against my tiny hand. I pulled out the little vial I had taken from d— _ him. _

 

Apparently it could heal injuries… 

 

“H-Here…girl?” I carefully opened up the glass bottle, and it drunk the fluid without complain.

 

Soon it’s injuries, the various cuts and bruises on its body disappeared and I smiled.

 

I stepped back… 

 

I need to get to that mountain…

 

I could hear the rustling behind me…

 

I turned back…surprised to see her following me…the weird…cat croc thingy tilting its head in curiosity.

 

“You…want to come with me?” The animal didn’t seem to understand me, but I still got what it wanted.

 

… 

 

“I should give you a name.” I offered my hand and it bounded over to me, each of its steps like a spring. 

 

Suzy…Susie? Nah…doesn't fit…

 

Ralsei? No that would be a goat name…for some reason.

 

Wait…Kaprosuchus!

 

“How do you like Kapro?” Again she didn’t understand. But she didn’t need to. I would teach her.

 

Now off to adventure?! And freedom…

  
  


“You’re not from here, are you?” I had never seen even one animal like Kapro, but I did pick up that his coat had been waterlogged.

 

And there was…a bad…and scary storm a while ago…

 

Maybe he was from the continent? No the storm was from the west…

 

She must have been brought on a log from the America’s…. 

 

“Really far…”

 

I couldn’t imagine how scared she was… 

 

But she was here with me, safe and sound. I would keep her safe.

 

We were moving across a strange place, a town with a lot of magic painted all over it, and I found a house that felt so…

 

_ Familiar…  _

 

I was resting on the bed, my eyes seeing through the leftmost bed, rotten and full of pests that Kapro had eaten. 

 

Maybe…I flinched at the sudden chirping of birds, and I noticed the small homes set up by them. The little birdies were staring at me… 

 

Good acoustics…maybe a song would make me feel better… 

 

I breathed out, Kapro perking up.

 

“Familiar… Why is it so familiar?” The song rang out, echoing across the house.

 

My lips quivered…the confused birds chirping in tune with my voice.

 

“Familiar… Like something I used to know.”

 

They only picked up the pace growing louder.

 

“Familiar… Staring up at the Ceiling.” My voice broke near the end.

 

“Familiar… I swear that I know this feeling.” I pushed my small lungs to my limits. “Where everybody wants me to be mom. And everything I do, I do it wrong. I sway them with a joke or a song. And maybe that’ll help us get along.”

 

I remember…the days when everything was right with the world. Where everyone was still around…

 

When… _ he  _ still loved me. When I didn’t remind him of  _ her… _

 

“Familiar… Why is this so familiar? Familiar… Like something I used to do?”

 

The days we spent just playing and having fun…learning, them teaching me like mom was supposed to… 

 

“Familiar… She used to throw a tantrum, Insisting that hey I’m a Magi too.”

 

… 

 

… 

 

I just want things to be back the way they used to be. Is that really too much to ask? Is it?

 

* * *

(Gaster’s POV)

 

… 

 

… 

 

… 

 

… 

 

I…have nothing else to say… 

  
  



	7. Chapter Seven: Surface Trivia, and a Spirited Spider

**Chapter Seven: Surface Trivia, and a Spirited Spider**

 

…

 

… 

 

The hell is going on?

 

Ok…fell asleep…and now I’m apparently hanging from a ceiling?

 

Let’s look around for clues.

 

Ok…webbing…well that was easy enough.

 

“Muffet? Why did you tie me up?” I waited for the shadow in the left corner to move, and I grinned at their sudden gasp.

 

“I…apologize for the abruptness human but I…require your…assistance.” 

 

This was the first time I had ever seen the spider sound so unsure of herself. Admittingly I hadn’t known her for more than a couple of minutes. So I couldn’t be so sure of where exactly her personality truly lied.

 

“What do you want?” I preferred the blunt approach for this, my empty stomach making the decisions for me. The spider monster flushed under my scrutiny and I waited for her to reply back. I wouldn’t tolerate lateness when I was frankly starving.

 

“I…wanted some advice…” I quirked an eyebrow waiting for her to elaborate. She tapped her fingers together and I waited, she groaned before continuing, then stopping again.

 

“Well?”

 

“I WANT YOUR HELP IN WINNING ASRIEL’S HEART!”

 

… 

 

… 

 

Heh…

 

Hehehe… 

 

Hehe…

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh my god that’s…that—FUCK!”

 

My head suddenly collided with the hard ground as the webbing holding me let go. I swear I heard a crack but thankfully that was the wooden floor instead of my skull breaking.

 

“Shut up! Just shut up!” I kept laughing, and I started choking when she muffled her screams with a purple pillow.

 

“Oh god you’re killing me! Pffthaha!” I stopped my laughing however when she summoned a constantly shifting ball of webs and wires. Deciding that my survival was more important than a good laugh.

 

I leaped up, waving my hand as I got my footing. Muffet was still blushing but she no longer looked like she was going to feed me to her pet.

 

“Right and you decided to ask  _ me  _ on how to help you?” I was skeptical.

 

She turned away, an uncertain look upon her face. “Well…you were the easiest of his male companions to grab. His other friends are more…cautious than you are.”

 

… 

 

Goddamnit.

 

“So please dear…will you help me?”

 

I sighed. “I’m not going to say no but I’m not the best person for this stuff. Any advice I give could do wrong.”

 

“I don’t care…I need help.” She sounded desperate.

 

I sighed a second time. “Ok,” she beamed but I stopped her from saying another word. “But I’ll have to get Chara and Frisk’s help for this.” She didn’t look happy about that and I rolled my eyes at the response.

 

“Muffet dear, neither of them are interested in Asriel in that fashion. No matter what Mettaton says. They’ll gladly help you out.”

 

At least Frisk will…I’m not too sure about Chara. Also I swear I hear a music box  version of Spider Dance playing in the background… 

 

Eh…I’ll leave that be for now. 

 

“All right I’ll take you to them but…”

 

I really don’t like the use of but in that sentence.

 

“You’ll need to ride my pet to get there.” I froze as a hot puff of air tickled my hair.  

 

… 

 

I already knew what was behind me…and I  _ hated  _ it.

 

* * *

(Frisk’s POV)

 

Where is he. Where is he. Where is  _ he? _

 

He was here a few minutes ago…I just got up early to change and take a shower and when I get back he’s gone! The only evidence of what happened is the webbing left behind.

 

Which could only mean…

 

The door was nearly ripped off its hinges when a frantic Chara burst in. She was gripping a phone Toriel had gifted her, and her feet squeaked against the hardwood floor. 

 

“Muffet kidnapped Br—why are you in a towel?” A noticeable blush formed on her cheeks.

 

I rolled my eyes at her. “Because I was taking a shower duh.” It seemed Chara had some choice words for me.

 

“Ugh…just change already. Muffet’s already bringing him back anyway.”

 

I tilted my head. “How do you know that?”

 

She waved her phone at me with an upturned nose. “He told me on  _ her  _ phone. Said she wanted our help in setting her up with Asriel.”

 

… 

 

“Frisk…? What’s with that face?”

 

Hee…hee… 

 

“Frisk calm down…don’t you—.”

 

“EEEEEEE!”

 

“FRISK! Don’t start yelling you’ll wake the neighbors!”

 

I stepped backwards, using some green barriers to speed up my trip to change.

 

This is going to be great…I get to  _ actually  _ set someone up! 

 

EEEEEEE!!

  
  


“So let me get this straight. You and Asriel have been dancing around each other for  _ years. _ And you think we can finally break that cycle and get you guys together?”

 

Muffet meekly nodded, a purple blush on her spider face. She winced when I clapped my hands together. A grin formed on my face.

 

“Then you’ve come to the right people! You and Azzy will be together in no fine at all.” The spider monster looked happy and giddy at my confidence. 

 

“Do you promise human?” I nodded and she gave me a sweet smile. If it wasn’t for the fangs and the multiple eyes and arms she would have seemed like any normal girl.

 

“Are you going to let me go now?” I ignored the muffled voice speaking into my ribs. My right arm was currently wrapped around a certain kidnapee’s waist while I carried him like a piece of metal pipe. His legs and arms dangled in the air and he wore a deadpan expression on his face.

 

“You got kidnapped…” was my reply to the small boy. 

 

He chuffed with an embarrassed tone. “Fair enough…but still. I don’t think this is necessary.”

 

“Tough shit.” He growled at my harsh tone and he tried and failed to wriggle out of my hold.

 

“Damn it…” he relaxed and I picked up a calculating emotion that put me on guard.

But I have to help Muffet…so no distractions.

* * *

I adjusted my usual blue and purple sweater, my only change in outfit being the long and cozy set of dark brown fur lined pants and a sansy sweater. My passenger seemed to find it comfortable, if his nuzzling of it was any indication.

 

“Right so what kind of date we talking here? Something super fancy and classy…or more casual and low stakes?”

 

“Hmm…I would prefer whatever made Asriel comfortable. And personally I don’t mind his tastes. I’ve been thinking a movie date is a safe bet…and they’re airing an anime in the theater dearie has been  _ dying  _ to watch.”

 

“Are you sure? This is your date too.” She nodded with a smile.

 

“I’m fine with it. I don’t dislike anime and this one is of a classier nature than most.”

 

Well okay… 

 

“So what kind of plan do you have exactly?” My companion asked from right next to me.

 

“None.” I replied cheerfully skipping out of the door. He had a dumbfounded expression and I smiled. “It’s not exactly  _ complicated… _ Muffet just needs to ask him out.”

 

“It is not that simple.” I took a step forward and she yelped as I booped her nose.

 

“It  _ is  _ that simple. He’s not some oblivious fool, just ask him and he’ll definitely go out with you. And if you don’t I’ll  _ make  _ you ask him out…”

 

“O-Okay…” She nodded and I gave her a thumbs up.

 

“Now go! Run to him darling! GOO!” She shrieked running off at literal supersonic speeds.

 

“That was easy enough…I thought you would go with some over elaborate plan.” I shook my head, maybe I would do such a thing when I was younger and more naive but… 

 

_ That was a lifetime ago…  _

 

“Now let’s f—OOF!” My face took the brunt of a sudden barrier and I dropped Brandon by mistake. He landed on a bouncy layer of blue magic with a smirk. Before my hands could reach out to grab him, he  _ blurred _ back hitting the side of the apartment with minimal error… 

 

“Hah? Victory is mine!” I blinked as he posed dramatically, though once he was under our scrutiny he wilted. A bright blush went up from his neck up to his ears and I giggled.

 

_ He’s adorable…  _

 

He rubbed his arms, his eyebrows furrowing up. “You said you want to follow them right? To check up on them?” I nodded, bouncing up and down.

 

He couldn’t meet my eyes anymore and I didn’t understand why. Chara started rolling her eyes and the shorter boy stammered, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of us.

 

“Uh you okay?” He nodded, though I could still tell he was staring…though he was staring at my stomach instead… 

 

His eyebrows lifted up. “Huh…should probably change into my clothes instead of my pajamas.”

 

That would be best… 

 

* * *

(My POV)

 

I really have no idea where they got this…I guess we all match though… 

 

I had put on a green and blue striped sweater paired with black fur lined trousers. A nice blue sweater completed the outfit since New Home is still rather cold despite the abundance of people living in it. 

 

From what I could tell we had about four hours before the movie started. And shortly after Muffet had left, and given Frisk a paid day off for her help. Frisk had also shoved a breakfast burrito into my mouth. 

 

Yeah…not sure what that’s about… 

 

“You still want the other one?” My eyes followed the tantalizing source of nourishment. I nodded and Frisk more gently passed it into my cold hands.

 

For now we had mainly been wandering about, taking in the sights of the city. At this point the monsters seemed to be used to our presence. I took a bite of the food, aiming to ask some questions.

 

“Uh…Frisk?” She turned to smile at me. 

 

“Yeah?” I tapped my fingers against the burrito held in my hands.

 

“What’s the surface… _ your  _ surface like?” Her smile faded and I felt like I had made a mistake asking her.

 

“It’s not…too bad on the surface…but…a lot of mistakes were made…” I could tell she didn’t approve of the decision making up above.

 

“Did some countries up top make some dumb errors? Like the UK, Russia, or maybe Brazil or Venezuela?” America could be included in that list of fuck ups…though in the case of Russia I’d be thinking more long term issues due to their… _ meddling. _

 

I had a bad feeling when her eyebrows furrowed in confusion… 

 

“I’m sorry to say I don’t think I’ve heard of any countries like that still existing…” I pulled out a phone, showing her a map and guiding her to those mentioned countries. Her eyes lit up, and mix of sadness and horror made the pit in my stomach deeper.

 

“What’s wrong…?” She blinked a few times, and under my cautious look she cleared her throat.

 

“Well…in my…time I guess…those countries were…devastated during the mid to late twenty first century…”

 

Oh…huh…what the hell happened… 

 

“I’ll start with Brazil first…apparently just before the start of the 20s they had elected…a rather… _ unsavory  _ individual to power. In his time in office, massive quantities of the rainforest were devastated for illegal mining and infrastructure projects…thousands of natives were killed. A feedback loop started as the following presidents continued the trend of deregulation, and the rainforest started collapsing.”

 

_ Holy crap…but that would mean…  _

 

“The Amazon is gone in my timeline…along with almost every species that once called it home…” There was a grave tone in her voice and even Chara was left speechless.

 

That’s…horrific…in every way imaginable…

 

“It…it didn’t end like that right?” Chara seemed afraid to ask. 

 

Frisk has a dark look on her face. “Around the 40s South America became increasingly unstable as a combination of environmental degradation and climate change… _ ruined  _ them.”

 

“That’s…” I trailed off.

 

“Venezuela was the first to go…breaking apart into a bloody civil war, spreading death and conflict to its neighbors.” And I can tell it’s only going to get worse isn’t it? And I really don’t want to think about the fact this might be my own world’s fate.

 

“Some of the more prosperous nations managed to get through it…mainly by incredibly violent border reinforcement and expansions into vast supercities…but Brazil suffered the worst fate…”

 

How the fuck can it get worse than civil war and massive migration waves?!

 

“H-How?” Even Chara didn’t take it well, living in the same time period as I did, before it had all come to a head.

 

“Survivors…from one of the tribes…a tribe of mages…” All of us stepped closer, intrigue and curiosity controlling our actions. “There isn’t much footage of those times…only that whatever happened. Within a decade…most of South America had gone empty…”

 

I think I want to go home more than ever…seriously…the Surface is a bit of a crap-sack world. What the hell kind of dark magic does someone need to perform to wipe out an entire continent? I needed to know what happened to the other countries… 

 

“R-Russia?”

 

“Destroyed in a nuclear war with the remnants of China.” Was Frisk’s answer.

 

“The UK?”

 

“The union was broken apart in the 20s and England became everyone’s bitch…” That…is an  _ uncharacteristically  _ dry reply from someone as cheery and… _ bouncy  _ as Frisk.

 

Also… _ ouch _ from a global spanning empire to the mere puppet state of the major world powers.

 

Wait…what about Africa and the mideast… 

 

“Also cleansed in nuclear fire and population collapse…something to do with mages too? Only a few countries really survived…the  _ end  _ of the world I guess?”

 

How did she know? Oh it must have been written all over my face.

 

Huh…did any country survive from those regions… 

 

“No…if you mean a country anyway…some people lived but…it wasn’t the same…”

 

“You home is kinda shitty huh?” She nodded and I decided it was best we move on to something nicer and less depressing.

 

“Yikes…that…is worst than I was expecting. Even  _ I  _ didn’t think they’d screw up that much.”

 

“Let’s move on…this topic is rather depressing and I no longer want to continue this.” The two girls nodded in agreement and I felt sweet build up once I realized where we were heading. 

 

I hadn’t noticed the detour…we were at a private gym that Asriel had…acquired so we could train our magic.

 

“U-Uh…are we here to…?” Chara gave me a wide mischievous smile that looked good on her, and to my surprise she started jogging.

 

Hey…shit she’s fast!

 

… 

 

… 

 

“Dude…I know she has a great ass but…”

 

“FRISK SHUT IT!”

 

“Never! It’s my eternal job to tease!”

 

“GAAA!”

 

* * *

_ “ _ Quite a workout…but it’s nice getting back into shape. Good thing I had a big brekky.” Frisk giggled at Chara’s slip yet I still felt like I was dying. I must have already lost weight by now and chugged down a liter of water over the last hour. Seriously those two had stamina and endurance like a damn horse…that…came out wrong…

 

It was in my case, also a test of magic…Chara said summoning my aura and continuously infusing it with my body will help with magic and endurance. It apparently also gives you a healing factor, healing injuries that take days in minutes. And since I’m exercising…I can take more strain without causing major damage to myself. 

 

Still it was certain that Chara and Frisk had far more experience in using magic, they were barely breaking a sweat with my pace. Once I had gotten used to doing it by myself they worked themselves down to the bone. Hell I saw Chara lift several hundred pound weights on each side with nary a flinch. While Frisk with minimal magic use, clocked thirty two miles per hour on a dash.

 

I cursed my simple male hormones…because Frisk just  _ loved  _ to tease and fluster people. Apparently today was a  _ real  _ workout so she thought to change into a blue sports bra and black gym shorts…so…I was a little distracted.

 

An unamused Chara snapped her fingers and I blushed, doing my best to return to the lesson.

 

“S-Sorry I’m just…a little distracted.” Chara tapped her fist against my forehead and pressed.

 

“I know Frisk is annoying but there’s nothing you can do about it. She likes flaunting it.” I mulled it over, unsure of how to feel about it.

 

“I suppose she is a bit intense…and it’s not easy for me. I’m not…used to…this…” we both seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.

 

… 

 

“God she’s hot…” Chara groaned and I nodded absently.

 

“She’s gorgeous.” Waving my arms around for emphasis, replying loudly to Chara. I could hear Frisk curse when she took a wrong step. At our rather loud agreement she had almost tripped herself up.

 

“Heh…she’s probably one of the few humans I would consider…well…you know?” She waggled her eyebrows and I almost choked when Frisk lost it, falling flat on her face.

 

“C-Chara!” Chara finally broke, cackling and backing away onto a bench, kicking her feet up.

 

“Haha! Too cute! You tease but you can’t take the heat back.” Frisk pouted. Chara’s body shook with amused chuckles. Eventually her laughter trailed off and she became more serious… 

 

“What? Are we going to work on magic now?” She snapped her fingers in reply and I took another desperate sip of water, keeping in mind the continuous field of magic I was outputting.

 

“Of course young grasshopper.” She replied in a sage tone. We paused for a moment, and I added a bow. She laughed and I felt a smile pull at my lips.

 

“So what are we going to go with?”

 

“I’m glad you asked,” she bounced up, and my thoughts were elsewhere when she used her green sweatshirt to brush her sweat away. “You’ve been working on single magic type spells right?” I nodded, and it was the truth. Mostly just fiddling around lesser magic on the couch.

 

Everything about magic was a miracle…a single human being could perform the work of a semi truck with barely any effort. My guesses on my telekinesis spells was that I could throw eighty thousand kilograms at over thirty miles an hour with minimal effort. Someone with an Integrity soul could do so at over fifty miles per hour.

 

At the same level of attack…which for me is a mere 2.

 

God…the ability to punch through tank armor being a  _ mere  _ two is insane… 

 

“Anyone down there?” I grimaced when I found Chara’s hand patting my head, the girl smiling widely.

 

Hmm…head pats are nice… 

 

…

 

“Uh…yes? I’m fine go on.” She  _ beamed  _ and continued on with the lesson.

 

“Something that’s well established is the use of  _ fusion  _ spells. Combining different spells from different traits to form a more versatile tool. For example, combining a trap with combat oriented magic to form a truly deadly maze. Or adding orange spell blades to a  _ perseverance  _ web spell.”

 

That makes sense…

 

“Are you asking me to try to make some  _ fused  _ spells?” 

 

“Yep. Heck I have an example right here…” She breathed in and out and around her hands, orange ethereal boxing gloves were projected around her fists. They were shortly after, modified with yellow barrels forming. She dropped into a boxing stance of some kind, and launched a punch… 

 

In a single movement, yellow flaming bullets shot out, shimmering and detonating against the invisible barrier of a magic training section.

 

Hmm…what can I…ok…got it…I focused on a disk shaped blob of aura, forming a basic pressure based aura mechanism.

 

_ Pressure Trap… _

 

_ Command: Activate in .5 seconds _

 

In its current state, the spell was limited to mostly non lethal damage…and at the moment it was left without a spell to activate. But I did have one suitable spell… 

 

_ Combine: Pressure Trap; Plasma Bolt; Whip _

 

“You gonna try it out?” I nodded and I drew out the aura from within my soul. I threw a few dozen of the traps on the ground, wincing at the drain on my slowly growing reserves. She took a step forward and a smirk grew on her face… 

 

**BOOM!**

 

She exploded into action, moving at immense and incredible speed. The traps activated in hues of dazzling purple and blazing yellow.  _ Plasma whips  _ surged to life, one or two lashing against Chara’s back while the rest were dodged or torn apart by conjured shotgun blasts. As she sped towards me with possible killer intent I panicked… 

 

_ Speed Burst X2.5  _

 

I modified the spell as my senses came together…slowing my movements in exchange as the energy went to… 

 

_ Mind Dilation X3.5 _

 

My body was slow and stiff while my mind raced to do something else…it didn’t take long to figure it out. Just as she passed the last of the failed traps I created one more.

 

_ Tripwire spell _

 

_ Command: Instant on contact _

 

_ Combine: Tripwire; Blue Bounce barrier _

 

I ended the spell and everything went back into real time as my spell hit at the last second. Unfortunately in my rush I had made some miscalculations on her trajectory. 

 

Her feet triggered the wire…and she flew up as the bouncy layer of  _ Integrity  _ magic threw her up.

 

“SHIT!” She was thrown twenty feet in the air, her arms flailing for purchase. 

 

Shit…b-but she shouldn’t have been so…well  _ terrifying.  _

 

_Dammit._

 

I moved back and forth, while Frisk stepped back. Chara started to come back down in an arc and I leaped into action. While she was yelling out curses, the redhead drawing ever closer as I opened my arms to catch her…

 

Wait…couldn’t I have used a spell to catch her…? It would have been easier and safer… 

 

“THE HELL MATE!”

 

Well…

 

Shit…

 

**POW!**

 

I groaned, my eyes closing in response to the impact.

 

My left hand squeezed a well muscled leg while my right kept itself on Chara’s lower back and no lower for my own safety. I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn’t under some illusion or had been knocked out on impact.

 

“Uh…nice catch?” Chara complimented me with some hesitation, caught off guard as much as I was. My feet would normally have been wobbling under the significant weight, but my body didn’t have the same weaknesses as it once did. 

 

But even then I wasn’t exactly in an easy position to maintain, and Chara’s…long… _ long  _ legs kinda made everything unbalanced. And my arms couldn’t reach out to hold her upper back very well.

 

“R-Right…uh sorry about that…” she shrugged, giving me a playful smile. 

 

… 

 

… 

 

“You…u-uh should be putting me down now.” 

 

Should…should I? This is oddly comfortable…but that may just be because I’m holding a beautiful women in my arms.

 

“Well?” Frisk was crossing her arms, a knowing smirk on her face.

 

“Erm…” I released her legs, and her feet dropped to the gym floor with nary a sound. I pushed her forward with my remaining hand until she balanced herself.

 

“Uh…you okay?” Chara sounded worried and I nodded, not liking the tone she was showing me.

 

“Yeah…just surprised…that’s all.” I pressed my hands together, feeling shivers and shakes make their way through my system. Being so close was…was… 

 

“Yoooo!” I stuttered as Frisk dashed over, her sneakers squeaking against the floor. I was squashed against her side, my cheeks tickling with her…chest’s… _ movements. _

 

“What?” Chara’s back sunk into an exasperated stance, her face blank.

 

“It’s clear that our friend here is fascinated by close contact with a lovely female specimen like yourself.” She used a pompous and sophisticated tone that did not fit Frisk  _ at all. _

 

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Though it definitely left the sole redhead in the room confused.

 

“He likes being close to your boobs and legs…” she replied cheekily.

 

… 

 

“What?”

 

Frisk opened her mouth. “I—.” I took the liberty of  _ lifting  _ and then  _ throwing  _ her out of the window. The window shattered, raining glass onto the outside while Frisk cursed me out. 

 

**THUMP!**

 

Chara gave me a look and I whistled innocently.

 

* * *

(Chara’s POV)

 

“So…mhmm…we following Asriel and Muffet on their… _ crunch… _ date?” I took a few bites of the popcorn I had bought using some money Frisk had given me at…my  _ request  _ lets say… 

 

We had bought three seats two rows above the middle row Asriel and Muffet had chosen. I took the middle seat while Frisk was on my left while Brandon was on my right. He was sharing my extra large popcorn, while Frisk had her own. 

 

“ _ Daddy are we lost? _ ”

 

Unexpectedly the movie premiering was a rerun of Spirited Away, how they had gotten a copy after a hundred plus years I have no clue but I loved that movie when my m—

 

… 

 

Our little midget seems to like the movie, I could see the interest light up his eyes and his legs wave back and forth as his mood picked up. Up in front I could see Muffet and Asriel talk, and could  _ just  _ about hear them. And their interactions were the _ cutest… _ I felt the urge to flip his ears over his eyes like when we were—

 

_ Ahem…  _ back to them… 

 

“Ooo such a fascinating style…humans are an interesting group are they not?” Asriel nodded, a wide grin on his furry mug.

 

We stayed quiet, the two young monsters inching a little closer as the movie went on. Muffet sounded amused when the parents were turned into pigs…in general she enjoyed the movies strangeness. 

 

**CRUNCH!**

 

I blinked, leaning against the movie theater chair as old memories floated up to the surface…memories I had long suppressed… 

 

_ ‘Oh my little devil child. Where is your smile? Mommy loves it when you smile. But I know a movie that’ll put a smile on your cute face.’ _

 

I blinked again, tears falling for the briefest moment.

 

“Hey…are you okay?” His voice was soft, uncertain but also worried…hesitantly reaching out to my wrist. His touch was brief and…comforting. I ripped myself away from the screen to face him. His toothy grin had dropped into a discomforted and distorted grimace.

 

“I…it’s nothing I’m okay…”

 

“Because it looks like…” he stopped and I took a calming breath. He didn’t deserve me exploding at him.

 

I was okay.

 

Mostly. But…

 

“You’re a good person though…you know that right? Better than me anyway…” He looked shocked at my admission. I assured him with a superior facade. “Only barely though…I’m not as lazy as you.”

 

“I suppose not. Getting motivation out of me is like squeezing blood out of a rock. Yet…I seem to be doing fine, for now anyway…” He went silent, having run out of steam quickly.

 

“You’re doing well enough.” He shrugged, glancing back to the movie. We fell into a comfortable silence enjoying the old favorite of mine.

 

Yet he deaned to end the silence.

 

He licked his lips, clearing his throat. “If…you…ever want to talk. I’ll listen…promise.” He shrunk in on himself once I faced him, but he didn’t back down or retract his statement.

 

“Sure…”

 

There wasn’t much to say after that.

 

* * *

(My POV)

 

I yawned while surfing through my phone…after the movie had ended we had headed back home, though Chara had ended up paying us a visit.

 

She seemed oddly ragged…saying something about Asriel and Muffet. I suspected it was only an excuse. Why she would give it I wasn’t sure, could have been she was lonely, or just some nightmare.

 

Chara didn’t say a word, snuggling into a blanket Frisk had offered her while I had my own while I surfed the web. Eventually I came upon some news on a game called…

 

_ Deltarune. _

 

Why was this so important…?

 

… 

 

… 

 

O-Oh my…this is… 

 

“Hey…you seem a little nervous mate?” Chara scooted over, her eyes filling with worry.

 

“I just found this…” I scooted over so she could see, the women was intrigued reading what was on it.

 

“Deltarune made by Toby Fox…” I froze when the words entered the air.

 

That’s… 

 

“Hmm…there’s a video here…”

 

Uh maybe she shouldn’t… 

  
  


“…”

 

“…”

 

Well…at least you get a sequel? Chara’s face was unimpressed almost like she had read my mind.  I honestly didn’t expect this to happen when I had fallen Underground.

 

Then Chara spoke.

 

“Well…I have questions. Ones you can’t answer…”

 

Ain’t that the truth.

 

… 

 

What is she holding? Once the shock had worn off I could see Chara fiddling with some small stone tablet. She was trying to decipher it if I was guessing correctly. But the language on it was unknown, but resembled...wait I  think it was Latin actually.

 

“What’s that?” She formed a small hesitant smile, her fingers tapping against the stone.

 

“Oh, it’s a correspondence between King Rasgore and some Roman guy during the late fourth century. Something about ‘barbarian’ invasions? Apparently asking for assistance in exchange for money and resources?”

 

The Kingdom of monsters corresponded with the Roman Empire? Well the west…if  they were talking about the tribes of Germania invading.

 

“There’s other stuff like this in the Royal archives. Tens of millions of magically preserved texts dating back to ancient times, probably around the time of Sumer.”

 

That…that would be a goldmine of archaeological data. A practically  _ uninterrupted  _ line of stories and records of human history. Heck it could provide some clues to my own home, since their history seems close enough to our own. Centuries of misconception and mystery unveiled, depending on how good their records are. 

 

“That’s…that’s…” I was left speechless, but suddenly Chara’s discomfort became obvious. “What?” I asked her and her eyes flitted downward.

 

In my excitement I had practically crawled onto the girl’s lap, my eyes widening at my audacity. I wasn’t typically one for physical affection. Aside from occasionally hugging some of my family(usually hesitantly or to annoy them), this was new to me.

 

“Uh…this must be really intriguing for you?” I nodded with a blush, waiting for her to say anything. 

 

… 

 

Well?

 

“Is there anything else you want to know? I know about some of the Monster nations from before the Great War.” 

 

Huh? I thought…should I ask her? 

 

Yes I should.

 

“I thought you would have pushed me off by now.” She shook her head, covering her mouth with her right hand. 

 

“Nah…you’re good…it reminds me of…simpler times…”

 

“How so?” A part of me wanted to know what was making her this way, but I didn’t want to hurt her. It didn’t feel right…I didn’t want to hurt either of the human women, women that the world had hurt.

 

“I…used to do this with…my mom.” 

 

She had a—no of course she does. Everyone has a mother…if they’re human anyway. Who knows how monsters work…probably some weird magical shit.

 

“She…was always pretty small…even more of a midget than you are.” I glared at her, and she responded with a weak laugh. “I surpassed her height when I was like ten. A bit of a lanky, skinny thing back then.  _ Super  _ awkward and edgy…”

 

I pictured the image…laughing at the idea of a goth Chara. Dressing in all black and other stereotypical things they do. It helped that I could certainly see that happening in a normal world.

 

“Sounds adorable.” She blushed and I poked her side playfully, another of my habits coming to the surface. 

 

“Anyway…we used to do this…” She waved to our current position and I acknowledged her with a nod. “All the time…because again she was like four inches shorter than you. A legal midget.”

 

I imagined the Chara in front of me, adding a few pounds and removing twelve inches to account for both age and size. 

 

“Was she nice.”

 

A nostalgic grin showed up. “She was…”

 

Oh…I’m not sure I should ask her what happened or not. It looked like a sensitive topic. And you wasn’t the best at these situations.

 

“She’s probably why I ended up loving the monsters so much when I fell down. All those timelines ago…they were just as kind and gentle.”

 

I swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry.” she shook her head, a deep sadness making me shudder.

 

“Things happen, and it’s not always fair or just.” Still, that doesn't make it fine or okay.

 

“I…but still that’s not…” I stiffened when the girl reached over, pulling me right onto her comfortable lap. Her arms wrapped around my form, her hair and her breath tickling my neck.

 

I…what…why…errr…huh…buh… 

 

Need…brrr…

 

_ Rebooting…rebooting…  _

 

“Uh, you know Frisk will use this against us right?” I asked her with a resigned and belated tone.

 

“Don’t care. I just…need something to hold. Used to do this with Azzy back in the day. And it feels like so long ago…even when it never really happened…”

 

I feel really glad I never had to deal with time loops…I’d go nuts pretty quick.

 

“Ok…I’ll be your pillow. And you said you knew a lot about old monster history right?” She kicked her feet at the question and I ended up relaxing into her shaky embrace.

 

Kinda nice actually…she felt like a warm blanket, and it made me a little sleepy…but I wouldn’t be going to bed just yet.

 

“Yeah…there used to be dozens of monster kingdoms scattered all over the world. Cities interconnected by magic across thousands of miles. From the city of Atlantis(well Thera too…) to the rabbit kingdom of Brasil. The empire of Lemuria…a large floating landmass uplifted by monster magic, destroyed by the Pandyan empire during the war.”

 

Well…damn…

 

That’s…jeez… 

 

“So cool…” I whispered dramatically. She chuckled and kept going.

 

“Well…Asgore’s father used to be friends with a Byzantine emperor…”

 

* * *

(3rd POV)

 

Quietly tiptoeing into the living room, a certain blue eyed human women couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The former princess held the young man close, small bits of drool leaked out, fortunately missing the boy. He was in a deep asleep, snores escaping on a consistent basis.

 

Frisk was holding a larger blanket in her hand and carefully placed the blanket around them. The two relaxed even deeper into their sleep and she smiled.

 

“Good…you’re someone she has no baggage with…she can open up to someone who’s still relatively innocent.” The girl sounded sad, a hint of the broken girl hidden underneath the facade of a happy go lucky pacifist breaking free. She brushed the sleeping girl’s hair back before backing away into the privacy of her room. 

 

The door clicked shut and within fifteen minutes, the only sound was the steady breathing of sleeping humans.

  
  


* * *

(Kris’s POV)

 

“The sea is nice isn’t it Kapro?” My little buddy purred in agreement, curling up next to me while we sat near a little shelter I had made near the ocean. 

 

I was cooking one of the rabbit thingies on a fire…and I had to wash my knife…Kapro had gotten her well deserved piece too. It tasted kind of like venison which I had tried a few years ago when…auntie was…was… 

 

“It’s a lot cleaner and and alive than the last time…do you want me to tell you about it?”

 

She tilted her head, her teeth glinting in the Icelandic sun.

 

“Of course you do…I’ll tell you. But it’s not a nice story.”

  
  


* * *

(Kris’s POV; Three Years Ago)

 

“Auntie? Why are we here?” I asked the dark haired lady who had loved me since birth. She had been really quiet since she gotten a frantic call from a friend. A member of the Earth Conservation organization. Something about saying goodbye… 

 

It was cold which was why I was bundled up in a big green coat. We had walked to the edge of the water, and I could see a  _ huge  _ dark shape floating near the shore. Like the size of two  _ whole _ buses! Bigger even… 

 

“Kris…you want to take a swim? My magic can protect you…” Auntie sounded  _ dead. _

 

And it scared me… 

 

“O-Ok…” She breathes deeply, creating a thin green-yellow-blue barrier. Like an extra coat, it kept me even warmer and stopped water from coming in. When we stepped into the water we started floating instantly.

 

It was cool… 

 

We left the shore, like maybe thirty five meters from land. The shape circled lazily around us, the water pushed away by the sheer bulk. 

 

“A whale? A whale…here?!” I shouted in excitement, shaking Auntie’s shoulder. She didn’t respond, looking…so… _ so  _ sad. Her hand reached out and my amazement  _ quintupled  _ as the whale revealed itself pushing against the older girl’s hand.

 

“A  _ Blue  _ Whale to be specific. An old friend you could say…who wanted to speak with me.” I blinked owlishly not getting it.

 

“Whale’s can’t talk…right?” She smiled wistfully, waving me over. I placed my own hand, marveling at how puny my hand was against the whale’s head. Smooth skin yet riddled with incredible age.

 

“You’re right they can’t. But they can sing…you just have to listen to the light inside their SOUL. Listen well…please…” 

 

I felt it.

 

A voice…so incredibly beautiful. One who had seen more than I ever could. A 110 years of life and pain and love. 

 

The world revolving endlessly…the shadows cutting deeper. The darkness growing darker and darker. Every song left broken and defeated…vanishing quietly against the dark. The world that they know becoming fantasy… 

 

She was the last song…the final raging against the dying of the light… 

 

“I…” the whale murmured an air shaking rumble, almost nuzzling me into the water. As if saying it would be all okay.

 

She was lying… 

 

“Your grandchildren are gone then? You are the last…the last of  _ all  _ of them.” It was a statement instead of a question coming out of Auntie’s mouth.

 

The whale murmured again. And Auntie  _ bowed. _

 

“The world will be lesser…I’m sorry…” I felt the  _ song  _ comfort her, the message embedding into our very  _ souls. _ Something that would last for eternity.

 

I could already feel it…the great beast was growing still. The great lungs pumping life giving air contracting under her great bulk. Soon the song grew desperate, passing its memory, its hopes and dreams to us.

 

The song had ended…and with that end came the end of a song that had lasted over thirty four million years.

 

I could no longer hear her breathing… 

 

Auntie gave  _ her  _ a final pat before with a pulse of kinetic aura, she pushed the whale out into the deep, following the body.

 

“Go to the shore…I have something to do…and you can’t be there to see it.” I acquiesced with a shaky nod, hitting the shoreline quickly. 

 

Eventually they both vanished out of the sight.

 

I waited for what seemed like hours…almost falling asleep until a flash of light woke me up. I almost screamed when Auntie suddenly appeared with a weary and depressed look.

 

“It’s done…come along now.” She took my hand, dragging me away with urgency. 

 

Yet the damage was done. I was finally awake to the world around me. What was once an ugly and empty beach became something more…a sign of decay.

 

Around me…I could see the bodies and skeletons scattered across the land.  Washed ashore, the bloated bodies of sharks and fish and dolphins…some years or even decades old.

 

My leg brushed up against what I had thought was a rock, but was actually the skull of a harbor seal. 

 

The sea which was usually casually noted as emerald green, was instead a sickly color that filled me with disgust.

 

The world was coming to a bitter end…and Auntie knew it.

  
  


* * *

(Kris’s POV; Present)

 

“The world ended. But the world revolves back again…so here you are. A survivor…” I patted her soft, fuzzy head. I always loved animals…their souls were simple, yet their songs were as beautiful and unique as any human. Each singing a different song, a different tune.

 

The ants sung of work.

 

The trees sung of growth. 

 

The bird sung of flight, of fun, of music.

 

The Radeers(Yeah!) sung of dining and bouncing.

 

Kapro sung of hunting and chase. Cuddling and play, hope and dreams.

 

Their intentions were mostly pure instinct, only the most complex had anything more. Good old Kapro was among them, singing among the greater birds with the same level or even above them.

 

“It’s a beautiful day outside. Kids like me…should be walking.” I stood up, waving Kapro to follow. I left my shelter behind, putting out the fire and storing my hunt within my Inventory…which I had forgotten I had.

 

I was getting closer…I had heard the rumor…felt the  _ song. _

 

Many said the children that had fallen were killed…their souls stolen by monsters and demons.

 

But I knew better…each of the souls were  _ determined _ , a change telling them that falling would change the world. Their song didn’t die when they fell…whispers told me of love and hope, of a sacrifice willingly made so all could be free.

 

So I needed to know…I needed to see for myself.

 

Whether these monsters of ancient magic were worth the effort, whether they could bring hope to the remnants of the old world.

 

Or would humanity snuff out their light…like they had done to everything else?

 

I—bleh!

 

“S-Stop that tickles!” I giggled when my animal companion tackled me, licking my face. “Eww! Gross!” Slobber dripped down my face, and I wiped it off with a laugh.

 

I shouldn’t be so serious. It wasn’t good or healthy to be thinking of this. 

 

“T-Thanks.” She blinked owlishly and I walked on, undeterred.

 

Off to the mountain!

 

Again!

  
  


* * *

(3rd POV)

 

“Ahh…son? Err…sons?” A voice sounded out through the home of a certain set of  _ bonely  _ brothers. The tallest and youngest twitched for a brief second, narrowing his eye sockets, an odd notion for many.

 

“YES FATHER? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU NEED FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS?”

 

An amused chuckle.

 

“Yes…you’ve heard the challenge that Mettaton sent against the human?”

 

“kinda hard not to. didn’t think mettaton would have the  _ spine. _ ” The younger brother groaned, while the shorter one known as sans laughed.

 

“I believe he will benefit from your combined guidance. Will you do this task for your dear father?” 

 

“OF COURSE! IT WON'T BE A SHOW IF THE HUMAN IMMEDIATELY FALLS IN THE DRAMA BATTLE!”

 

“no prob. we’ll give him the good one, two. should prove interesting.”

 

The scientist chuckled. “Very interesting indeed.”

 

“INDEED! A FORM OF UNDYNE’S TRAINING SHOULD WORK!”

 

A mile away, a snoring figure shivered in fear, his senses warning him of a soon approaching danger. 

 

Unfortunate that it would not prepare him for the true threat still coming. 

 

The  **demon** who comes when their name is called… 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got another chapter hot and ready for whoever is reading this. Hope you’re willing to give me your opinion down below if you wish. I have about 4 other chapters to upload over the next couple days but don’t quote me on that.
> 
> Besides that…any of you know any good people to comission for fanart? I’d like to get my idea for my Frisk, Kris, and Chara on paper if you would.
> 
> And eventually other characters too…though that’s for later chapters.


	8. Chapter Eight: A Skeleton of Training

**Chapter Eight: A** **_Skele_ ** **ton of Training**

 

I shivered in the deep void I was falling through…and endless ocean of light and dark. I could hear voices…ones I I had familiarity with.

 

A part deep within me…knew they were humans…and not monsters. My soul resonated with one in particular and a light flashed on. And I could  _ see…  _

 

There a sole figure stood, on that hill of endless swords…surrounded by an army. The ground shook as the tide of soldiers and war machines leapt forward. 

 

Tanks, aircraft, moving bipedal weapons platforms…hundreds…if not thousands of faceless soldiers in armor. Yet the figure was unphased by her doom…and a single one of those enemies below approached. He was tall…easily seven foot with the Spartan armor esque design. His face was like carved stone, a thick black beard covering his face. His eyes were a piercing blue-green, and I had the vague idea of him being russian.

 

His fist curled, and a wild maddened snarl formed on his face.

 

_ “You’re surrounded…you so called hero of justice! You die here!”  _ His eyes filled with glee, and when he slammed his boot against the harsh ground. It  _ exploded.  _ The grassy ground unable to withstand the incredible force.

 

The figure…and now that I looked more closely…the  _ woman _ laughed. It was a beautiful laugh…like a tinkling of soft bells.

 

“ _ You’re right…I will die here…” _ the armored man smirked, thought it fell off as she continued.  _ “But I die knowing you are the last remnant of the old world…that with you gone, peace will reign for two hundred years. _ ”

 

He had a dark look on his face.  _ “Not forever?”  _ She shook her head, a knowing within her silver orbs.

 

_ “Are you done with your yammering? _ ” His snarl grew, and he let out a signal to attack. My chest clenched as an energy shimmered within the air, the air of that dry desert landscape. My heart rate increased and I couldn’t quite make out the words she was chanting. 

 

She pressed her hands together as if in prayer and my eyes widened as hundreds of bladed weapons materialized from thin air.

 

They were beyond beautiful… 

 

Swords of all kinds…rapiers, great swords, katanas…an infinite array of variety from all manner of cultures and peoples. Polearms…too…spears, lances, halberds and more…

 

Some weapons were of even greater  _ majesty _ … like something out of a fairy tale. Runic spears blazing with mystic energy, sword shining like polished gold, and weapons fit for giants. It only worsened with time… 

 

The scene seemed to zoom out and I felt my knees shake at the true number of combatants. 

 

Easily thirty thousand soldiers surrounded her on every side. Many dozens of aircraft darted around her, aiming every weapon at their disposal toward the lone women. Over three hundred mechanized war machines armed their cannon barrels and I did not understand how the unknown women was so calm…and then I could see the mountain she was protecting. 

 

A pristine green hill, so very familiar to me… 

 

I let loose a shaky breath as a twinkling type of music started to rise.

 

_ —Play Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works— _

 

The chant was impossible to hear under the cacophony of noise, and only the general’s fear told me it was something  _ dangerous… _ but I already knew what it was.

 

_ “K-Kill her now! Before it’s too late!” _ The general immediately roared out his orders and the army reacted, as a wave of air shaking orange energy empowered them.

 

I was blinded by light and deafened by sound…

 

A swarm of bullets honed in on the hill of swords and their yielder. I jumped back as the air exploded with fire and heat… A barrage of power barreling down on the lone mage swordswomen. Tank round, missiles,  _ lasers  _ and the rare  _ magical _ projectile.

 

She raised a hand with little fanfare… 

 

The music didn’t stop playing, as the smoke was pushed back by an unseen force. And now that it was clear I could see her in full for myself… 

 

She was a thin and lithe women, the signs of exercise and good conditioning visible under her red robe, the cloth waving in the cold and pollen filled wind. A single hand was lifted up, a round flower like shield protecting her with nary a scratch.

 

She had a diamond shaped face, with a head of hair that was a messy, unkempt brown, her bangs obscuring the silver glow of her eyes, the delicate eyebrows above her almond shaped orbs furrowed… 

 

There was a strong…almost repentant  _ sorrow  _ in her expression.

 

_ “It all ends here…on this hill of infinite swords. My last act as a hero of justice. _ ”

 

The familiar song playing in the background rose even higher and the general  _ vanished…  _

 

_ “I refuse to die here! The empire will rise again…the world will belong to us! Those abomination’s pathetic souls will be ours!” _ I could see his very  _ soul  _ pulsing with intent and practically divine power. 

 

A sword suddenly emerged from nothing, my soul briefly supplying “Kladenets” as it’s proper name… 

 

Incredible power surged outward from the artifact, doing its best to counter against the onslaught of blades. Hundreds of bombs fell around the women, each chipping more and more energy from her. The mountain side was thrown back like a tsunami of rock and dirt.

 

_ “I am…the sword of this world…it’s…ultimate guardian…and I will not let the light of ‘their’ kind fade from this world!”   _ She strained to speak and the blades  _ moved. _

 

I watched in morbid fascination as the blades hit their mark. Hundreds of bodies were slain with each and every moment passing. Bodies were cleaved cleanly in half, their internal structures raining down with a  _ slorp…  _

 

People were burned, incinerated, crushed, mangled or mutilated. Only the slightest quiver in the “hero’s” eyes an indication of how she truly felt.

 

Even with his mythic weapon in hand, the general couldn’t hope to keep up… But despite this  _ massacre _ …he was  _ determined  _ to survive to the end.

 

But in the end it was all for nought…because I could read the weapons summoned… 

 

Dozens of Norse runic spears fired…never missing their marks… 

 

_ Gungnir. _

 

A flaming sword cut apart tanks and aircraft, its fire burning through metal and composite like a hot knife through butter.

 

_ Dyrnwyn. _

 

A strange split bladed sword chased foes much to their terror.

 

_ Zulfiqar. _

 

Men and women alike bled endlessly to another weapon of the Norse. Blood coating it’s hungry steel.

 

_ Dáinsleif _

 

Images flashed by…the scene going faster and faster as I lost track of what I could see.

 

Glimpses of explosions…spears and blades piercing through flesh and bone…parrying machine gun fire with terrifying ease. Knocking missiles and rail gun rounds off course with her  _ bare _ hands.

 

One finale image flashed as the scene stopped, that  _ incredible  _ song coming to a sudden end. My heart lurched for some unknown reason… 

 

The mythic blade was broken, shattered within the stomach of the women. Still in her prime in many ways… mid 30s at best. She coughed out what seemed like a gallon of blood, staining her enemies shattered armor. 

 

The general in her way…had a dozen spears penetrating through every joint in his body. His fingers were twitching as his death rattled slowly started arriving.

 

It was quiet…

 

Until the man coughed, blood dribbling from his lips. 

 

_ “So…I guess you were right…” _ She chuckled bitterly, yet in her eyes I saw what seemed like relief.

 

_ “Any regrets you foolish old man?” _

 

_ “A…few…I…left behind some…family…my grandson’s little girl. A cute mix of Filipino, Hawaiian, and…well…”  _ She nodded, an understanding expression.

 

_ “If there’s one regret in this path of mine…it’s the fact I’ll never see my baby grow up either.” _

 

_ “Indeed…” _

 

Their hoarse breaths came to a stop and the field became utterly silent…and I flinched at the sound of falling and cold bodies.

 

The dream started to fade away into static, but even then I heard a voice… 

 

_ “If you can hear me…” _

 

I blinked, as the static overpowered my hearing.

 

_ “Please…when Kr–they fall…take care of them will you?” _

 

I felt my mouth open to reply, yet I couldn’t heard them.

 

I had said…I had said… 

 

* * *

I awoke to a loud snore…sounded kinda like a chainsaw…my eyes were still closed, and my memory was fuzzy…

 

I had been dreaming…but I couldn’t remember what it was… 

 

Moving my head on a swivel, I could see that Frisk had decided to decorate our little apartment building. Some extra furnishings to complete the look of the white walled living room. Some random paintings…a few fancy vases… 

 

I wheezed when two strong arms tightened their grip, my aura roaring to protect me from Chara’s insane strength.

 

“H-Hey…” she mumbled some choice words under her breath and I sighed. I gave her nose a little flick, after some seconds of wiggling a hand out. Her nose scrunched up with irritation and I did it a second and a third time. 

 

“Sleep now…” I decided I had no choice and became more forceful. I grabbed her face, harshly squishing her cheeks. She growled and I didn’t stop.

 

“Wake up Chara…you’re crushing me.” I deadpanned and added a tickle to her nose for good measure. 

 

“ _ ACHOOOO!! _ ” A sneeze like a foghorn came shooting out of her nose and I cackled for a moment. Her red eyes did their best attempt to burn a hole straight through my head. I shrunk back, giving her a sheepish smile…

 

“I’m sorry?” Her anger faded and with a…only a tiny, little  _ smidgeon  _ of disappointment from me she grabbed me and sat me next to her.

 

She dusted herself off, only a small hint of red on her face. “It’s fine…I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable…” I shook my head, my own cheeks burning.

 

“It’s okay…it’s just…new is all.” She nodded, scratching her left arm with a pursed lip. 

 

“Uh…do you know what time it is?” I checked my phone… 

 

“7:30…it’s kinda early…but not too early.” She raised an eyebrow looking behind me. I turned around, finding a happy Frisk humming His Theme under her breath…shaking her rear all the while… 

 

Cute really…and I swore that Chara’s hair had stood up on its ends like a cat out of shock. I think I was just seeing things though…that or this world follows anime logic. Fortunately it doesn't seem to include that dumb nosebleed thing…I’d bleed to death within an hour… 

 

“So today is…what…November 1st? Back home anyway…” I stretched out, hearing a satisfying crack, as well as rolling my neck.

 

“I guess?” Chara was fidgeting a bit, before her nose suddenly twitched. She tilted her head toward the door.

 

**KNOCK KNOCK!**

 

Did she…?

 

“Chocolate…” she murmured while approaching the door before suddenly flinching when Frisk slapped her hand against the kitchen counter. A… _ passionate  _ expression written on her face. Chara squeaked, disappearing and reappearing in a flash, sitting her butt down on a chair. 

 

I did the same at a more reasonable pace since I wasn’t being threatened… 

 

“I’ll get the door…have some breakfast.” Frisk  _ skipped  _ over to the door, opening it wide. Her smile shrunk when two skeletal figures waved their arms along with…

 

Monster Kid? Or MK? Don’t know what he would prefer… 

 

“HELLO HUMANS!” I flinched back at the general loudness that Papyrus exuded. He was wearing his “Battle Body” with a thousand watt smile on his…face. To his left sans was fiddling with a watch of some sort. To his right…I blinked at the outfit the roughly fifteen year old had on…It looked just like his Deltarune outfit…and Chara had the same realization.

 

Let’s shelve that thought for now… 

 

sans lazily waved(duh) to us. “sup kiddos.” 

 

“Yo!” MK gave us a wide and bright smile, bouncing in place. I waved back out of courtesy if nothing else.

 

“So what brings you here?” I could hear the curiosity dripping out from Frisk’s voice and I had the same question. Not that it wasn’t a nice surprise but still. At her question Papyrus and MK took heroic stances while sans did his usual thing.

 

“WELL! OUR FATHER HAS TASKED US WITH TRAINING YOU FOR THE LITTLER HUMAN’S FIGHT AGAINST METTATON!” 

 

Oh yeah…that was a thing…and I’m not that little right? Despite the fact I was shorter than almost every person I’ve ever known who isn’t younger than me… 

 

… 

 

“So do we have to do this now or?” I wasn’t too keen on the idea. Frankly I hadn’t ever been in a real fight before. Barring what Chara did on the first day of teaching and it wasn’t that intense.

 

“we’re not really in a rush here. paps just wanted to be early, and MK just wanted to chat with you guys.” The shortest skeleton was the one to answer our questions.

 

“That’s good…I kind of want time to eat before doing any exercise.” 

 

“OF COURSE FRIEND! IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A HEALTHY BREAKFAST TO GET THROUGH THE DAY!” I nodded, taking a seat next to Chara. On each of our plates we had three pancakes stacked on top of each other. Along with two pieces of bacon some eggs, and hash browns…which made me wonder where Frisk had time to learn this.

 

I nudged the stack…before a smile creeped up from my face. I turned to Papyrus with that grin and he started hand uneasily. “Hey Papyrus…” He didn’t say anything, the light in his eyes dimming. “Since these fluffy pancakes are in a stack…” his pupils had shrunk to pinpricks…

 

“HUMAN I COMPEL YOU TO—.” I cut him off gleefully.

 

“Would you call this…a  _ balanced  _ breakfast?”  I lifted and dropped down my eyebrows, smirking all the while. Frisk’s eyes had lit up when the taller skeleton stiffened up.

 

“PLEASE…NO…NOT ANOTHER SANS. I CAN BARELY HANDLE HIM AND THE QUEEN!” He griped openly, and then his eyes widened in fear at the playful look on Frisk’s face.

 

She smiled while scrambling some eggs, a twinkle in her eye. “Well I do make an  _ egg _ cellent meal if I do say so myself.” sans snickered in the background, and I could see fumes leave from his brother’s body.

 

“Well this does look rather  _ egg _ quisite my dear.  _ Lettuce  _ welcome our guests…”

 

“PLEASE…MERCY…” I shook my head, my grin widening.

 

“But you’re smiling…” the skeleton crumbled and I offered him a seat to my left. He grumbled while playing with his gifted food…implanted with a sizable amount of magic. If I was sensing it right…

 

I nearly had a heart attack when sans popped in, taking his own seat. MK was the slowest, taking a few seconds to walk over and twice that amount of time to sit himself down.

 

“So…you said…something…about training me right?” I paused in between bites as I attacked the  _ delicious  _ meal that Frisk had prepared.

 

“FATHER THOUGHT A FIGHT WITH AN ACTUAL MONSTER WOULD GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN THE METTATON SPECIAL COMES UP!” I nodded in understanding, it made sense. I expect that a fight between humans is a very different affair from a mock fight between monsters.

 

“That makes sense…I’m not exactly one for… _ theatrics. _ ” I could almost hear disdain though that was likely due to Chara’s dislike for Mettaton rather than a dislike for the profession.

 

I took a bite of the food, using the placed fork and knife to cut the pancakes into  actual pieces…I also added ketchup to the hash browns and the eggs. 

 

“So…What…we eat here…relax a bit and then get going?” The three nodded and I thought of what we could do… 

 

Hmm…I still have internet on my phone…though…that may have issues with the number of Undertale memes and comics…out…there… 

 

_ Oh those poor monsters…  _

 

I haven’t myself tried to look for anything but…some of that shit is just weird… 

 

No something else…maybe something about space…science?

 

_ Isaac Arthur…  _

 

Yesss… 

 

* * *

 

“Holy shit this guy is awesome!” I was nearly knocked to the ground as Chara shook me, her eyes glimmering with light and an excited air about her. She was actually on the edge of her seat right now… 

 

The  _ punniest  _ skeleton was also close, his own eye sockets filled with mild interest. 

“didn’t take you humans for dreamers…colonizing the  _ sun  _ is a pretty ambitious goal.”

 

I laughed. “Well that’s still pretty far away…my earth is still a few years off from getting cheap spaceflight, and I don’t think this Earth in in the best condition for that.”

 

Monster Kid frowned. “Well that’s too bad dude. Imagine how cool it would be…” I smiled slightly at the idea.

 

Yeah…

 

“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THERE ARE TWO EARTHS HUMANS. WHAT THAT OTHER ONE MUST BE LIKE.”

 

Our two guests had believed me on the whole being from another world thing…mainly because of how different the history of our worlds were. Getting some interdimensional internet from this incident is a bit of a blessing really… 

 

Also pretty sure sans already knows… 

 

“Doing better than this one that’s for sure…but give it twenty years and they might not look so different..” I wasn’t the most optimistic on my Earth’s chances. 

 

“right…i think it’s time for—.” sans was suddenly cut off.

 

“TRAINING HUMAN!” I shivered as cold bone met against my waist…wait…no…no, no—

 

The door was nearly ripped off its hinges as Papyrus ran at top speed… 

 

No…PAPYRUS!

 

**BOOM!**

  
  


“So how are we going to do this?” I fidgeted nervously, stopping just short of the designated sparring circle. We had returned to the private gym…but this time we had our three guests accompanying us.

 

Papyrus posed heroically. “FIRST THE TWO OF US WILL ENTER A FIGHT!” I quietly nodded at the answer, the caped skeleton laughing energetically. “I WILL TEACH YOU THE WAYS OF MONSTERS! I, THE GREAT AND LOVABLE PAPYRUS PROMISE YOU THIS HUMAN.” 

 

Too adorable…I supposed now would be good time…then?

 

“Ok…that’s good…” Papyrus stepped into the ring and I followed in after him. A low tune started to play and I stared blatantly at the cape billowing in an underground room.

 

A calm and quiet rendition of Bonetrousle became more clear and with a release of my breath I read the text transposed onto my eyeballs.

 

*** Papyrus 6 ATK DEF 2**

*** He wants to help.**

 

I focused that easily malleable substance emanating from my soul. Filling my body with the life giving light. I decided to try something… _ new _

 

I focused my aura within…  

 

_ Body Reinforcement…  _

 

Papyrus narrowed his…eyes, as if reading something. “AH…ATK 2 AND DEF 4…A GOOD START.” I hid the preening at his approval, and lowered into a stance that I had seen Chara take some time ago. 

“What next…?” My hands sparked with electricity as I asked. Despite myself I felt excitement, having never been in a full on FIGHT before. 

 

“WE’LL START SMALL! NOW DODGE THIS!” A bone suddenly sprouted from the ground, moving at about…15 meters per second.

 

It proved easy as hell to dodge, I side stepped the magical bone attack with minimal effort. Two more sprouted in their place and I walked…well lightly jogged around them. I quickly had to dodge another…summoned while I was distracted… 

 

Aural energy lazily flowed from my core to my hands, bursting into flowing plasma balls. 

 

“So…Uh…next level?” I quickly learned to regret my big mouth when the bones rushed in at triple their initial speed and in ten times greater numbers.

 

I danced between the columns of bone, narrowly avoiding the constructs. 

 

_ Another wave beat…  _

 

“YOU’RE DOING WELL HUMAN! BUT YOU MUST LEARN HOW TO ACT AS WELL!” I nodded painfully as a single bone tripped me up, taking a sliver of damage. 

 

_ Shit! _

 

A series of light blue bones came out and I went stock still…they harmlessly phased through…

 

My thoughts suddenly stopped as my body felt ten times heavier…an incredible weight and mass pressing down on my unprepared body.

 

_ OH SHIITT! _

 

I loved far more slowly…only going at full throttle was I able to accelerate beyond my earlier speed…Even then I felt sluggish…

 

He lifted his right arm an—

 

_ Holy crap! _

 

Dozens of bones sprouted out from the ground, or shimmered from the air. Forming a veritable maze of bone matter.

 

I jumped a few meters in the air, and came back down just as quickly…I then flinched when an attack nearly brushed against my crotch…Papyrus’s confidence dropped at his near sexual and reproductive crippling of me but he ventured onward.

 

I dropped to the ground, grinning at the crater formed upon my landing. I might not win this…but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to try.

 

The air was pushed aside as I leapt at him, straining to reach my top speed.

 

Act…huh? Well since this isn’t the game…I have no clue of how’ll I do that… 

 

“Hey Papyrus?” I yelled with my  _ outer  _ voice, at my current limits I didn’t need to use magic to communicate. Even then I was still running at subsonic speeds. I grunted as I summoned a green barrier at the last moment, reflecting a mineralized calcium projectile with ease.

 

“WHAT IS IT MY FRIEND? ARE YOU READY TO SURRENDER TO MY GREATNESS?” I shook my head, a smirk growing. He looked uneasy… 

 

“Nah…I just had an important question…” he nodded while we fought, my reflexes letting me cartwheel out of the way. “What kind of instrument does a skeleton play?”

 

I had never seen someone with such an affronted expression, much less on the face of a skeleton.

 

“LET ME GUESS! A TROMBONE? I’VE HEARD  _ THAT _ ONE BEFORE!” 

 

“Nope,” Popping the P with a wide mischievous grin I answered him. “A Xylo _ bone. _ ”

 

… 

 

… 

 

“not bad kid…you’re really…tickling my funny  _ bone _ …” I snapped my fingers with a grin. sans smiling back.

 

“OH MY GOD SANS! DON’T RUIN MY LESSON!” sans shrugged with a genuine grin, and stepped forward.

 

“is it okay if i join. never seen a purple soul for myself…and i’m a little curious.” Papyrus  _ beamed. _

 

“OH THIS IS FANTASTIC! SANS YOU’RE FINALLY TAKING THE INITIATIVE!” Sweat started forming on my forehead 

 

I raised my fists up, as the bone brothers stepped in sync. Papyrus lifted his right hand, giddiness clear in every step he took.

 

“HUMAN! BEWARE OF US BROTHERS! WE ARE TAKING OUR TRAINING TO THE NEXT LEVEL!” sans eyes started to glow, and I felt terror wrack my body.

 

“yup…i think we’re going to have a good time…” I read his  _ check. _

 

*** Sans 1 ATK 1 DEF**

*** Genocide’s Final Boss**

 

_ I’m fucked…  _

 

Another wave of bones came, each diving in at at half the speed of sound… 

 

I couldn’t move out of the way, and I braced myself… 

 

Three bones  _ smashed  _ against my stomach and I felt like throwing up my lunch.

 

I suppressed the urge, curling my fist around a  _ purple  _ whip. I twirled, adding energy and momentum to the attack. It struck against  _ both  _ sans and Papyrus, causing minimal damage. My intent wasn’t in it… 

 

But I wouldn’t try it again… 

 

However my hesitation cost me, and five smaller magic attacks hit me. Costing me five HP. Probably from sans… 

 

I  _ jumped, _ easily two dozen meters straight up.

 

I then blanched at the veritable creaking forest of bone beneath me. Easily fifty bullets tore through the ground where I would have been if I hadn’t dodged.

 

But a single one honed in like a missile and I hissed as my hands caught the spinning projectile.

 

“Shit!” The bone was held in my grip, and my magic flooded into the object… 

 

Huh…?

 

A brief flash of an image passed through my inner mind. The bone’s structure became known to me, and it was crushed within my hands.

 

Subconsciously I lashed out, and the brothers ducked as two magical attacks exploded where they had once been. 

 

I tried to find where they had gone once they had vanished from sight… I shook my head at the deteriorating fragments of bone matter.

 

_ Must have struck against one of their attacks…  _

 

“sup…” I turned around only to get an energy blast, my body convulsing at the feeling of being electrocuted and it stung by poison… 

 

The agony was excruciating, and I collapsed to the ground. 

 

“SANS WHY?!” Papyrus sounded  _ angry  _ and I could hear Chara growl from a few meters away… 

 

The aforementioned brother’s eye was glowing and he had a look of confusion. He stepped away, visible panic clouding his eye sockets.

 

“shit…sorry don’t know what came over me…” he apologized quickly and in his place was MK.

 

The armless dinosaur looking monster had a sparkle in his eye despite the incident, and after a few moments of breathing space. I lowered myself into a stance, though it was in that moment that I faced a sneak attack… 

 

A hand placing itself around my hip. I almost lashed out until I turned, almost bumping into a pair of… 

 

_ Uhhh…too close…   _

 

“C-Chara?” I stammered, my eyes briefly flitting down to her chest. She didn’t say a word while adjusting my form.

 

“Should have done this before…I’ll teach you some stances and moves if that’s okay?” I nodded and she gave me an excited smile. I was moved into a basic boxing stance, my fists held up to protect my face.

 

First a jab…kind of a shit one really. But then again I’m new at this.

 

Then a cross…and so on…just enough to work out I can imagine.

 

“so…” sans had a smug grin expression and I narrowed my eyes at him.

 

“What?” I replied flatly, his grin only widened.

 

“if you two lovebirds are done, don’t you need to get training?” 

 

… 

 

Chara instantly retracted her hands from my body, her face burning and a sound that to my ears said “murkle.” coming out of her mouth.

 

“SANS NO TEASING THE TWO HUMANS ABOUT THEIR  _ SPECIAL  _ CONNECTION!” I blinked several times, and then sighed.

 

That didn’t make things better Papyrus… 

 

“Let’s get on with it then…” 

 

At my word, MK stepped in front of Papyrus and I read his  _ stats. _

 

*** Monster Kid ATK 4 DEF 2**

*** Wants to be like Undyne**

*** You feel this fight will be harder than expected**

 

My body hair stood up in a sensation of goosebumps, and MK opened his mouth. A ball of solid light forming.

 

_ Oh shit n— _

 

**BWOOM!**

 

I dove left, dodging the deadly beam of monster created magic.

 

I lashed out with a jab, directing a plasma blast directly toward his face. He took it like a champ and  _ jumped. _

 

From twenty meters up he fired off another beam, and I formed a few barriers. All seven shattered but the energy was gone… 

 

_ But he was now behind me. _

 

**BWOOM!**

 

I took a few blasts head on, losing my footing with the directed light explosions.

 

I reacted with a bouncy layer of  _ integrity  _ magic, bouncing back at him with full power.

 

“W-Woah dude!” I missed by inches but not before wrapping a whip around his armless body. With a smirk I flicked my wrist down.

 

MK was  _ smashed  _ into the dirt, and I twisted my hips flinging him against the wall of the gym.

 

I grinned before las— 

 

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS STILL HERE!” I took a hard punch to the gut, spit flying at the sudden sneak attack.

 

I brushed away the lingering liquid with the back of my fist…and an idea came to me. I noticed the buzzing sensation and sound underneath my skin, and focused inward.

 

Distinct from the magic flowing within my body, I could see a  _ foreign  _ source of power. It was familiar…and, and my ears were the first to really pick anything up. That buzz…was the same as the buzz coming from the monsters magic.

 

So I had absorbed it?

 

… 

 

Then could I…?

 

I can…?

 

_ Good. _

 

I stepped back from another beam, and rolled onto the ground to avoid a glowing high kick from Papyrus.

 

I grabbed that input of external power…converting it into kinetic energy in…a… 

 

_ Feedback loop: Kinetic Barrage. _

 

The two monsters fighting me backed away.

 

I let out a breath as pure, raw  _ power  _ ran through me like an electric current. Superheated steam leapt free from my mouth, and the concrete floor  _ melted  _ and cracked under my influence.

 

“So this is what a  _ perseverance  _ soul is capable of…” Chara was left breathless and I went on the attack.

 

With triple my max speed I threw out one jab…and then a second one. Papyrus and MK flew back at supersonic speeds, and just as swiftly as the power came, it vanished… 

 

I flinched when Monster Kid freed himself from the rubble with a gleam in his eyes.

 

“DUDE! That’s so cool! Can you do it again?” I shook my head to his disappointment, as well as mine.

 

“WHY IS THAT HUMAN? AN ATTACK LIKE THAT COULD CREATE A LOT OF DRAMA!”

 

“Because I need an input of energy to do that,” I coughed as exhaustion started sinking in. “I took all the magic I was hit with…and made it into energy I could use for…for an attack…there isn’t any left.”

 

“I think you need a healing sess my dude…” I yelped at the sudden assault of my person as Frisk pulled me into a hug. 

 

_ Oh that feels nice. _

 

Any outburst from me stopped as the healing took place. It felt like a nice warm, and relaxing bath, and my eyes drooped.

 

“WE STILL MUST CONTINUE! I HAVE THE THREE HOUR PAPYRUSIZATION TRAINING SESSION READY NOW!” 

 

… 

 

… 

 

_ W-What? _

  
  


* * *

(Chara’s POV)

 

“ _ Kiillll meeee! _ ” I rolled my eyes at the tiny man’s complaints. After three hours, he had nothing left to give.

 

“Sorry but no dice.” with a smirk I picked him up by the collar of his shirt, almost recoiling at the smell of sweat and bodily odor. “Besides…some exercise will do you some good.” He pouted, crossing his arms out of habit, if his chatty soul told me anything.

 

“Mmm…” I sighed, weaving between the crowds of monsters with practiced ease. He slumped in my left arm, his good mood dropping.

 

Soon after I was distracted when I slammed into someone’s chest…

 

“OWW! Ma nossse…!” I snorted, though my amusement faded at the nervous grin of Gaster. 

 

The skeleton was holding several texts, and I could see Brandon’s eyes light up as he scanned them.

 

“Hello Chara, Brandon.” He nodded and my fellow human nodded back.

 

“Are those magic books?” I could practically taste Brandon’s anticipation, his legs kicking air in excitement.

 

Gaster had an amused grin. “Indeed, I have a few books I’ve scrounged from human texts. Only a few decades old, though from what I can see. Magecraft appears to be nearly an extinct art by now.”

 

How unfortunate… 

 

“Could I have them?” I let out a smirk much to my male friend’s costernation. He was positively  _ adorable  _ whenever he got excited.

 

“That  _ was  _ why I came here,” My eyebrows furrowed at the statement, and he stacked the books together. “I suspect both of you have some interest in how magic is used among humans like yourself.”

 

He’s not wrong…most of my knowledge is from trial and error, and outdated books from centuries ago. I only have a rough idea of what magic is capable of… 

 

He passed them into our hands, I took two and held them up using my right hand. Brandon took three bundles up in his arms.

 

Then I remembered the  _ inventory…  _

 

At seven books were stored, and we almost waved goodbye until he stopped just short of leaving.

 

“Child…” the title was directed toward my passenger, and his gaze sharpened. A bright intelligence behind those brown orbs, instead of his more usual daydreaming disinterest. “Have you had any strange dreams lately?” 

 

Immediate red flag coming from our resident mad scientist.

 

Brandon’s gaze was suddenly far away as if remembering something from long ago. “Strange dreams…? Yeah…two I think…?”

 

Gaster nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Good…good, then my theory is correct…”

 

“ _ What  _ theory Gaster?” I grit my teeth at him, and he chuckled. “And don’t laugh you bastard!” He waved off my concerns and I growled.

 

“Have you forgotten child…this  _ boy  _ crossed the void between realms. Such close contact with the emptiness tends to cause… _ side effects. _ ”

 

Brandon turned pale, all blood leaving his face.

 

“Is it harmful?” Gaster looked oddly smug, but he answered my question anyway.

 

“His contact was relatively benign…in his case, it gives him visions of the past…glimpses of other timelines. Barring a nightmare or two he should be fine…”

 

“Are you sure?” Gaster coughed, and I bit my lip. My grip on the little manlet tightening.

 

“Yes…” 

 

That’s good…I hope he isn’t lying.

  
  


* * *

(My POV)

 

Interesting book…really interesting… 

 

_ Basic Thaumaturgy _

 

_ By Erebus _

 

_ Mage Institution- New London _

_ 2088 _

 

The first page already told me how different this world was from my own. But it did make me ask questions on what had happened to London. Frisk was only so detailed with the history of her own, and she may or may not have left details out.

 

“New London huh?” Chara mumbled as she leaned in to read over my shoulder. I had cracked open the text to read it, my curiosity too strong to deny. In it there was a basic description that I had yet to read…should get on that.

 

_ Thaumaturgy goes by many names depending on the culture and location of a Mage society. Magecraft, Magic, Witchcraft, Mesmerism, etc. It is the enactment of miracles, the use of living energy to affect the physical world. _

 

I continued to read on, and from the corner of my eye I could see Chara doing the same. I could see the twinkle in her eye, her own interest shining through.

 

“Neat, huh?” Chara’s nodded absently and I looked down.

 

_ As to what this living energy is? Like Magic it has many different names depending on the culture and location. Mana, Chi, Chakra, Prana, are one of many such words. For this text, Mana will serve as the go to descriptor.  _

 

_ As for what mana is? Mana is a form of matter-energy unlike any form of conventional matter or energy, best known for radiating from living organisms. However, mana in fact permeates the near entirety of the known universe to some extent. The densities varying rather widely. This particle acts as essentially a fifth force, manipulating the physical laws of the universe when it is disturbed. _

 

_ In living organisms, it gathers into a single roughly heart shaped core. Though in simple life forms, this mana has a minimal effect. It has been seen that the greater the intelligence of a living thing, the greater the power of what we have dubbed the SOUL. Though beyond a certain point there are minimal returns…  _

 

So magic…is some type of fifth force unique to this universe? Multiverse? Because Gaster wouldn’t have been able to drag me here if our worlds were too incompatible right?

 

Don’t get distracted… 

 

_The soul, the Psychia of a human being. It is from this that one’s magic stems from. Within humans, the SOUL is_ _split_ _into_ _seven_ _different_ _traits for unknown—_

 

Skipping, skipping, skipping… 

 

_ Despite the sheer abundance of mana in the environment. The number of Mage’s within the human population is unnaturally low. Around one in one hundred thousand… _

 

“It used to be one in ten thousand in my time…” Chara murmured the statistic, worry in her tone.

 

That is…concerning… 

 

_ Magic was once a universal trait among mankind, and was explicitly a part of human society and life for many thousands of years. To many of us few Mage’s, this period…was known as the Age of Magic…and it abruptly came to an end sometime around the 900s…and for unknown reason magic slowly started to fizzle out. And we were gradually banished to the outskirts of civilization, once we outlived our usefulness. _

 

“You…might have skipped too far ahead.” Chara turned a few pages back, and I narrowed my eyes at the title of the chapter.

 

_ Arcanographic Mystic Codes _

 

What the hell is this? And it sounds neat too… 

 

_ Another form of magic, they fall into various different categories, but all are under the purview of being magical imbued code, built to create a reaction in a controlled step by step fashion. _

 

_ These codes can create a number of effects outside of the range of one’s affinities or traits. They require materials related to those affinities or a pure injection of the trait itself. They are an ancient art, dating back to 5000 BCE. Many legendary weapons fall under physical Mystic Codes. Imbued with magic to multiply their power beyond the normal. _

 

_ They are almost impossible to copy exactly. Their creators and wielders secrets lost to time… _

 

It sounds oddly familiar…like… _ ahhh… _ I’ve heard it before. Like…

 

Like… 

 

My eyes closed shut… 

 

_ ZZZZZ… _

 

_ ZZZZZ…  _

 

* * *

(3rd POV)

 

Chara sighed as the younger brunette fell fast asleep, the young man exhausted with the workout given to him by Papyrus. She gently pulled the thick decades old book away from his grip, keen on reading it for herself.

 

“A lot has changed hasn’t it?” She spoke aloud, her voice almost numb and vacant. She moved him with an uncharacteristic quiet, placing his head down on a fluffy pillow and covering him with the monster knit blanket.

 

Chara wasn’t sure what would come next, once the barrier was broken, once monsterkind became free. Once the gateway to INFINITY opened.

 

Had what they had done been a mistake? What horrors and nightmares would be unleashed by their reckless breaking of the dimensional barrier. Because it had been done before…and led to disasters of civilization ending scale… 

 

This timeline raised more questions than answers for her. The world she had known was old and broken, humanity almost following its fellow organics into the halls of extinction. Only recently had humanity recovered, and even then the population was only half of what it had once been.

 

She needed information, and Gaster had provided Chara with a goldmine…and she would happily make use of it.

 

* * *

(Kris’s POV)

 

I sniffed with a frown on my face. I could smell the forest fire from here, and it wouldn’t be long before it got here. 

 

So…first I’ll pick up Kapro.

 

“ _ Grrr…. _ ”

 

“Oh hush!” I admonished her with an affectionate smile and she followed behind with a hiss. 

 

I decided maybe it was better to pick her up and  _ run,  _ when some lightning struck against a tree a few yards away. The smell of smoke intensified and I decided it really was for the best.

 

**BOOM!**

 

Wooo! Flying through the air is fu—

 

_ OH SHOOT! _

 

**CRASH!**

 

My face met with the metallic ring of some huge chunk of scrap metal, and Kapro whined. Despite our impact at sonic velocity she came off unhurt.

 

Not even a bruise… 

 

I scanned the clearing for enemies but found nothing. And Kapro couldn’t smell anything either, her claws tapping twice.

 

_ Coast is clear…  _

 

I rubbed her head, kneading my fingers between her feathers.

 

“Good girl.” She brushed against my legs, with an almost grin and I smiled back.

 

Okay, we’ve got…like another day to go before we get to that mountain.

 

On that…mountain where  _ she  _ had met her end… 

 

* * *

(3rd POV)

 

A deep whine shook an isolated room, rattling the head of one Wingdings Gaster. He wiped the sweat from his skinless forehead, sighing as he tinkered with a strange spherical machine. 

 

The device was strange, no seams visible against the mirror like surface. It floated in midair, with the only sound being a short electric hum. Image’s played back and forth on its glass surface, glimpses of other lands, of other worlds changing endlessly.  

 

Though at this moment, it was stuck showing images of millions of foreign galaxies, their appearance making the device appear like the universe in miniature. 

 

Gaster turned away from his work bench, his mouth pursed as his interest peaked. “An alert?” He thought aloud, placing his fingers against the smooth surface. He started to zoom onto a particular galaxy, curiosity and worry beckoning him.

 

_ ‘This…galaxy…a warped barred spiral galaxy with an unusually large supermassive black hole.’ _

 

He continued to zoom in, now only a few million stars were visible. Making up the spur of a galactic arm. 

 

Again, he increased the magnification…now only a single yellow middle age star was visible, outshining every other object within its light year wide influence. 

 

“Let’s see here…” he finally stopped on a rotating blue sphere, taking up a third of the surface of the machine. The planet in mention was the same size as the planet he was living below. The same size, the same distance from the sun, the same land and ocean… 

 

_ ‘Ah…yes…that world…it will be an interesting one to study.’ _

 

There was a small alert that concerned him greatly, the machine predicting a possible danger. Though one that was not of immediate concern. Gaster had bigger things going on, and so did  _ other  _ worlds.

 

Brief glimpses flashed momentarily across the sphere…

 

A young child, fighting with strange colorful beasts against a being from another world. The being’s body broken and distorted into a crystalline form. The two were fighting for the fate of their worlds. From a distance two powerful beings watched.

 

One resembling a strangest white horse or llama like creature, a golden ring around its body. The other, a serpent of gold and darkness, its armored skull hissing with excitement.

 

Two  _ gods… _ fighting for control through proxies.

 

“Forgotten One Nyx huh?” Gaster muttered absently and the image shifted again.

 

An oceanic battlefield, beasts of darkness and hatred overwhelming a fleet of flying vessels. A leviathan of a monster, punching through energy barriers defending a large town with a ray of heat and energy.

 

Only to be frozen to stone by silver light…and finally put down by a massive and impractical bipedal war machine.

 

He tapped the sphere.

 

If Gaster had a nose it would have wrinkled in disgust, though mild horror would be visible through his eyes as well. Horrifying abominations…a plague created by  _ determination _ based reanimation. A world going through its death throes…and cut off from other timelines… _ forever. _

 

A version of the prince, fleeing to another world to stop the same mistake in that new world. The princess in the guise of a skeleton… _ dying…  _

 

_ ‘So why did I find myself interested in this one?’  _ The image returned once more the tiny, little blue dot. And when an alarm rung he understood why.

 

“A rising level of magic…from none at all…a fascinating accidental experiment.” 

 

Gaster was curious to see what the future would bring to the now linked worlds.  But first, the lingering threat had to be ended once and for all. And that time would come soon enough.P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery thickens…
> 
> Can any of you guess what world’s Gaster caught a glimpse of in his timeline spying? There isn’t a prize but it’d be neat to see how informed the denizens of this place are.


	9. Chapter 9: The Obligatory Water Park Chapter

Well this dream is a little different isn’t it?

 

It kinda looks just like…home…? But…it’s been cut in half…and in that missing end I could see what looked like another building. A beautiful example of a European style chapel, and I think it may have been connected to a large and magnificent palace.

 

I stepped over to the divide between the two sections of my dream, and I could narrowly make out two shadows speaking. One was a bearded man of European origin, possibly a king of some sort. Maybe Italian?

 

It was difficult to tell…the other was both less and more clear…his eyes shined with an eerie scarlet light, but his facial features were unknowable. The…king sounded unsure and almost… _afraid._

 

 _“Please…do not make us do this! They are loyal subjects…loyal allies. They have been a valuable part of us for so long!”_ The king was shaking, and the other scoffed.

 

_“That…monstrosity was only a fraction of what’s to come. They will die…as decreed by the Council.”_

 

The king shook his head. _“This is madness! They have saved countless human lives asking nothing in return. They have saved my life!”_ The man cloaked in shadows lashed out and I grimaced as the king doubled over at the point of contact. The man’s fist lodged in his stomach.

 

_“This isn’t your choice anymore Otto…the masses are baying for blood, which is rather convenient for us.”_

 

_“No…”_

 

The dream faded to black, and in the last moments I could see a smaller shadow, a burning yellow gasping with horror before fleeing quietly.

  


* * *

I snapped awake, the dream staying in my mind instead of drifting away like the others had…

 

I glanced around the still bare white walls of my room, the only possessions I had being a single closet, a _reinforced_ wooden cabinet and a fluffy and comfortable bed, with plain green sheets. My phone was sitting on the cabinet, an adapter charging it from the CORE powered electrical grid.

 

My hand shook, and I ignored it…thinking back on what I had seen…

 

That shadow’s eyes…made me _afraid…_ And I know I had witnessed a glimpse of the events leading up to the War…

 

My heart ached for a moment and I decided to leave the questions for later…it was time to start the day and…

 

_Sniff…_

 

I needed a shower.

 

…

 

A few minutes later I’m in the bathroom with a set of clean clothing for the day. I shut the door behind me with a—

 

**CLACK!**

 

And stared with mild disinterest at the strange device. It looked much like a machine razor, but something felt different about it…and there was a note attached.

 

Let’s see here…

 

_Hello there! It’s me Frisk! I decided just before going to work, to get you a little something. It’s a special Monster made machine razor, apparently it works a lot better than normal mundane ones. I got one for myself and thought you’d like one too. Anyway, I’ll be back in…about two hours. So see ya then!_

 

I crumpled the small piece of paper, dunking it into a small metal trash can. I bounced it between hands, my curiosity peaking at how the monster made shaving device would function.

 

I’m sure it’ll be fine, so let’s give it a test run…with the hair on lower stomach rather than my face. No one can see that…so…let’s do th—

 

**BZZZTTTTT!**

 

“MOTHERFUCKER OWW!”

  


* * *

I looked on dumbly at the sight in front of my eyes. After the little _incident_ with that razor, I had continued to get into a morning routine. Figured out how to use the razor, took a shower, made some breakfasts then washed my teeth. Spent some time surfing the web for about an hour or two.

 

I leave the the house to get some…fresh air and I come back to… _this._

 

“ACK! P-Please! I-I’m sorry!” I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. Watching with little emotion as a pissed off Chara tried to choke Alphys to death with her bare hands. The yellow lizard was scrambling to get away, her little feet kicking air as Chara trapped her in a choke hold.

 

“You’ll be _sorry_ alright you stupid c—.”

 

“ **Ahem.** ” Chara froze as Undyne materialized from behind her with a deep scowl. The fish monster coughed and the redhead quickly dropped the lab coat wearing scientist.

 

The former princess gave her a wobbly smile, failing to look innocent in any regard.

 

“Uh… _hiiii_ Undyne. How are you doing today on this fine morning?” She slowly drifted away from the frightened, shaking form of Alphys. I felt my chest constrict as _pressure_ hit my body, a deep irrational fear taking control.

 

Even _Chara_ was sweating, and I had no clue what I was feeling.

 

Undyne stepped forward…

 

A wind pushed me a few inches, and I suddenly had Chara trying and failing to hide behind me. I let out a confused hum, unsure of what to say… Though I did enjoy the sensation of her bare legs against my lower back. So there was that if nothing else.

 

“So…Uh…how are you doing today?” I repeated Chara’s question, hoping to cut the tension a bit. Undyne pinched the bridge of her nose, but backed off. Chara relaxed and I continued to enjoy the closeness.

 

“Good…Good…just going on patrol. Probably a good idea to check for _more_ humans falling.” Chara frowned at the idea.

 

…

 

But Undyne isn’t wrong actually…with how the timeline has changed it’s totally possible that more humans might fall. Especially with whatever the hell happened on the surface just after we fell.

 

At the very least their help might make it easier to break the barrier…but depending on the human it could also be a grave threat. Hundreds of monsters could die…

 

I turned to Chara next, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “So…why were you trying to kill Alphys?” The redhead using me as a shield, turned a brilliant red, muttering under her breath.

 

I grinned, a flustered and nervous Chara was a cute sight.

 

“…you know why…” I shook my head, and her fingers pressed against one another with her nerves. “…what…Mettaton asked us…r…ember?” She turned as quiet as a mouse and I only gave her an innocent, _kind_ smile.

 

Oh I remembered all right. And while it was a little embarrassing, it was too absurd a question for me to take serious. But it was clear that Chara _did_ take it serious and I could use and _would_ use that against her.

 

“What? I don’t really remember that day too well? What did he ask?” I hid a happy smirk behind my fist.

 

Chara _squeaked_ and I supressed the urge to squee at her cuteness. She had stiffened up like a statue and was hiding her face behind her hands. But I could see her shining red eyes in the gaps between her fingers.

 

Chara puffed out her cheeks, a deeper blush on her face.“I…you’re making fun of me aren’t you?”

 

I tilted my head, crossing my arms. “What makes you say that?” I continued to stare, waiting for the young women to embarrass herself some more.

 

“Dammit…you win you little midget.” I sulked when she lightly rubbed her knuckles against my head with a grin. I tried to pry her off but it’s not easy to pull off 80 kilograms of female athlete.

 

“H-Hey get off!” I wiggled out of her grasp with a brief _pulse of_ telekinesis.

 

“Hmm…” she smirked and I was ready to fight her.

 

“R-Right…u-uh I was here to deliver something…” Alphys tapped her claws together  at the sudden attention.

 

“What was it?” She moved forward, pushing three tickets into my hands.

 

I lifted an eyebrow, carefully reading the text on it

 

_Ticket to Water Park!_

 

Is…is…that really what it’s called? Because that is stupid as hell, and I can only blame King Fluffybuns for this travesty.

 

“What’s this?” I asked of the lizard monster with a raised eyebrow.

 

“U-Uh…apparently your mail got sent to the lab instead of y-your apartment…

so.” I nodded, looking at the back of the small card. There was a message written on the blank space.

 

“Online contestant you have won…five…to…exclusive.” I degraded into gibberish as I read the gradually shrinking lettering.

 

Well…I do remember…entering some Undernet contest out of boredom when I woke up in the middle of the night. So I guess I won…?

 

“A water park?” Alphys nodded.

 

“I-It’s one of the biggest water parks in the Underground.” Her bare claws scratched against the stone street in front of the apartments. “K-King Asgore and Q-Queen Toriel let Mettaton build the park up to cheer everyone up. It’s the only place he’s built that _doesn't_ have his names plastered all over it.”

 

Neat.

 

“Sooo…who do you plan on taking? There’s _five_ tickets!”

 

SWEET JESUS!

 

I slipped and nearly cracked my head on the pavement as Frisk showed up out of nowhere, a blinding smile on her face. She had changed her outfit for today, a low cut tank top with the exact same pattern as her shirt. Below that was a pair of blue shorts, and squeaky red boots.

 

I scrambled back onto my feet and gave her my strongest glare. Frisk nervously giggled.

 

“Sorry…didn’t mean to startle you.” She grasped the back of her neck bashfully and I sighed.

 

“Whatever…” I shook my head, thinking about what she had asked me.

 

Who can I bring? The king and queen are _certainly_ busy, I don’t like Gaster. Napstablook and sans don’t seem the type, and I have no clue what Papyrus would want. Muffet is probably working her restaurant…

 

“I think I know who to bring…” out of the corner of my eye I could see Frisk point to herself. I rolled my eyes and made my decision. “Chara, Frisk, Asriel, and…” I paused unsure of who else to—

 

“How bout Alphys?!” The mentioned scientist curled in on herself as Undyne broke in with a toothy smile.

 

Alphys huh? That might be an option…that’ll give us a chance to get to know her better.

 

“Sure.” I don’t have a problem with it myself.

 

“W-What…? Are you sure I…” I waved away her concern, giving her a wide grin. She quieted down with a blush and I tilted my head in fascination.

 

The way her scales shifted from yellow to red was interesting…maybe she was actually a chameleon? They change colors due to emotions and mood…or Chameleon-Triceratops hybrid? Who really knows…

 

“Yeah see? These punks are okay with it, and you need to make some more friends besides me and sans.” Undyne did her best to reassure her…girlfriend(?)

 

I honestly didn’t know if they were together in this timeline or not. They probably were if Undyne remembered anything but still…

 

“O-Okay…are you really sure about this?” I nodded and added a thumbs up for good measure.

 

“That’s great! Let me just get Asriel and a change of clothes and we’ll be there in a flash!” With a happy giggle, Frisk dragged a shocked Chara by the collar of her…sweater before I could say anything else.

 

I coughed at the influx of dust, rubbing it out of my eyes as I turned to face Alphys. I hadn’t really done much talking to her yet.

 

“We haven’t really met before right? It’s nice to meet you.” I offered my hand.

 

…

 

…

 

“It’s…nice to meet you too…” I smiled once Alphys accepted my greeting, it would have gotten awkward fast.

 

“So I hear you’re one of the Royal Scientist’s ehh? Tell me more about that, if you don’t mind.” Her eyes lit up and mine did so in turn…

  


“So you guys are the heads of the various different division of the scientists of the Underground? Gaster’s and sans in R&D and metaphysical research. You’re in engineering and technology?”

 

Alphys nodded as we happily chatted while walking to the park…it was apparently about a few kilometers away…

 

Didn’t even know monsters users the metric system, but since they’re trapped below Iceland it makes sense. Being so close to the European Union, would probably have the metric system trickle down _eventually._

 

But besides that, the revelation of just how massive the Underground really was…it was mind boggling. The sheer expanse was beyond any cavern system the world had ever seen…easily ten or more kilometers from the Ruins to New Home, and just as wide.

 

Dozens of floors underneath the upper layer home to Snowdin added to the density and volume. So while the Underground is still an overcrowded mess, due to so much of that space being devoted to industry and agriculture. Once they can move that more outwards. They’ll likely be able to fit far more people…

 

Not sure they will though… I did have a distinct question however.

 

“So Alphys…just out of curiosity…do you know how much energy the CORE outputs?” Alphys was nonplussed by the random question but didn’t lag on answering.

 

“W-Well…the Kingdom of Monsters uses a-about 5 gigawatt-hours of electrical energy and Gaster has told me…that’s using up maybe…0.005% of its capacity.”

 

My pupils shrunk as I calculated the number in my head…

 

“That’s ridiculous!” Alphys and Undyne were taken aback by my outburst. “The total energy output of _all_ of humanity is only double that! That’s an absurd amount of energy!”

 

That’s…around ten terawatt hours…ten trillion joules of energy generated every damn second! It’s beyond anything…

 

“W-Well that’s u—oh we’re here!” I decided to shelf my questions for later as we arrived to the park.

 

I looked up to something that many people would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to go to…and it was less one water park and more like several.

 

My jaw dropped once the the sheer scope of the area was more obvious.

 

“Oh dear god…”

 

“W-Welcome to Water Park!” I closed my jaws once Alphys started to explain with a nervous tick. “A-At around 180,000 square meters in size, it can accommodate more than ten thousand visitors a day at full capacity. Monsters from all over the Underground come by just to relax and play. There’s a bunch of different pools, lazy rivers, water slides, hot tubs and spas. There’s something for every monster to love!”

 

“I-I…it’s…it’s…”

 

“Uh punk you doing okay?”

 

“ _Amazing._ ”

 

I couldn’t believe my eyes, my neck craning to look up the sign suspended dozens of meters in the air, hundreds of monsters of all shapes and sizes entering with relaxed smiles. This park(and Mettaton) were likely some of their few escapes from their situation.

 

“You really shouldn’t be such a downer Brandon.” I flushed and apologize profusely when I realized I had said that aloud.

 

Wait who am I talking t— _Asriel?_

 

The prince gave me a wide toothy grin, showing off thin fangs, his horns rattling with the movement. And now that I was closer…were those plant _stems_ growing out from his horns?

 

_Never mind…_

 

“Howdy. Got Chara and Frisk right on my tail.” I waved slowly, my gaze following the two shapes growing closer with every second. I could see Frisk running at top speed, a silly smile on her face as she waved her hand in the air.

 

She…wasn’t stopping, and I turned to Asriel. He whispered…

 

“Good luck…” he stepped back just as Frisk jumped toward me…

 

“You son of a b—BLARGHHH!”

 

A heavy weight crushed me and my head cracked against for concrete for a second time.

 

…

 

“Owwww…?” I didn’t move, my bones aching with the impact. Frisk’s hair tickled my face and I breathed deeply, calming my anger.

 

“Mhmm?” She unintelligibly mumbled into my shoulder. I counted to ten.

 

“Frisk? Would you mind _stepping_ off?” My weak grin turned into a scowl and I saw Frisk flinch. She leaned back onto her haunches, giving me a sheepish look, a light dusting of deeper color entering her dark cheeks.

 

“Sorry bout that. I just always wanted to try _that_ …and you were the best target..” I felt a vein pop, and tilted my head. She brushed her hair back in a shy fashion, and my thoughts were elsewhere.

 

_Wonder what Frisk would look like with long hair?_

 

“ _Righhhtt…_ besides that, what’s in the bag?” I pointed to the big clothed shopping bag and Frisk bounced back, both onto her feet and into a good mood.

 

“Oh this?” She had a goofy grin while she explained. “This has the swim clothes we kinda need for the Water Park…we didn’t exactly fall into the Underground prepared you know?”

 

“Okay.” I shrugged, turning back to the entrance. “So should we be going then?”

 

Her eyes sparkled and she braced herself before…

 

_Leaping over our heads._

 

“Yippee! Let’s go!”

 

We followed her with noticeably less enthusiasm, and stepped through the gate. Once I entered the room I was instantly hit with a wave of heat and humidity, reminding me of when I still lived in Florida…about eight years ago?

 

It had been a long time, and I wasn’t exactly a paragon of…

 

_OOF!?_

 

I caught the bundle of clothes, revealed to be three different pairs of swim trunks. One was green with two blue stripes, the second was a bright red, and the third was…hot pink…

 

I passed the third pair back into Frisk’s hands, and she grinned mischievously.

 

“Hey, sorry couldn’t resist.” She started taking Chara to one side of the changing room while I was lead to the other rooms by Asriel. She vanished past the door alongside the other girls.

 

Asriel pointed to the room with his horns, a small grin on his face. “Come on, changing rooms are this way. The Water Park has always been a good way to distract from… _distressing_ thoughts.”

 

Hmm…maybe a quick _check_ for curiosity's sake before we go?

 

*** Asriel Dreemurr ATK 133 DEF 133**

*** Prince of Thorns**

*** Knows you’re watching.**

 

He didn’t say a word, his walk not slowing even an inch…

  


To be honest…I have no idea what compelled me to be so spontaneous.  I don’t even go to places with water anymore(though I did like to swim before…)

 

And my body isn’t exactly the the peak of human perfection. And despite the layer of fur, Asriel is _built._ I’m fairly sure that if he was human(or a furless monster) he’d have a six pack you could grind meat on.

 

_Poke poke…_

 

I narrowed my eyes when Asriel pressed one of his fingers against my stomach, my gut lurching against the sensation.

 

“ _What?_ ” I asked hotly, my temper flaring up.

 

He pressed his fingers against his chin, a chuckle escaping him. “You’re kind of tubby aren’t you?”

 

…

 

1, 2, 3, 4…4… _4…_

 

“What about it?” His calm expression turned panicked and he flailed his arms in self defense.

 

“Uh…I’m just saying that you look thinner now…is all. You’re training is really helping you out.” He laughed nervously and I decided to let Asriel have his out.

 

I had gone with the green striped and blue striped swim trunks, finding them to be the most comfortable and fitting pair. I had also put on a pair of simple turquoise sandals, bundled up with the shorts.

 

Never really liked sandals though…they hurt my toes and felt uncomfortable.

 

“This place is really nice…” It really was…I bet that _when_ we break the barrier and find a way home, it’ll be a damn gold mine.

 

People will pay millions to go to a Water Park buried under a mile of mountain. Hell they’d pay just to be _in_ the Underground! It’s…it’s—

 

“Why did you want to come here?” Asriel’s tone was serious and I froze up, my reverie ended by his interruption. The expression on his face had softened, and I felt shudders through my body.

 

“I…just needed a distraction…that’s all.” I felt pathetic, but I didn’t tell him that.

 

“Nightmares?” I shook my head, and his eyes picked up something. “Homesick?”

 

“Yeah…” I curled my hands in and out, taking a deep, deep breath and releasing the tension in my shoulders. “It’s been about a week since we’ve fallen. I’m wondering how my family is taking it.”

 

My mom would probably be in hysterics…my younger brother probably wouldn’t care, and dad…would probably be… _stressed._

 

“Hey,” his voice was soft while her spoke to me. “It’s going to be okay.”

 

Yeah…I hope so…

 

“Yoooo! Azzy and Bee Bee!” I flushed when I heard the odd nickname echo across the entrance, and Asriel gave me a pitying look.

 

“W-What I—.”

 

“Frisk likes giving embarrassing nicknames sometimes…she was complaining to me and Muffet for _hours_ yesterday.” He rolled his neck with smirk, and cracking his knuckles. “Couldn’t come up with one for you until today.”

 

Right…Bee Bee…is _something._ Should probably tell her not to…call…me…that…

 

…

 

…

 

“Uh…h-hello?” My voice cracked within moments as Frisk skidded to a halt, some light dust kicked up with the motion. She waved and I wordlessly waved back.

 

“So you ready for some relaxation?” Frisk tilted her head with her usual enthusiasm and happiness dancing in her ocean blue eyes.

 

She…oh… _god shes hot!_

 

Asriel’s head cocked in seeming curiosity, and nudged my shoulder. He was giving me a teasing look and I coughed awkwardly.

 

Frisk had chosen to wear a simple blue bikini with a skirted bottom. Without the usual confines of her heavy clothing I could see how…errr…curvaceous she was.

 

Her swimsuit fit her _really_ well, and my vision naturally followed along from her smooth stomach to her lovely bouncy… _Nope_ avert your eyes. No…no…no…no.

 

I flinched at the sudden finger snap against my ear, and I froze again, as Frisk leaned _down_ to meet my eyes. She flipped her hair back and her expression became more…frisky…

 

“Hey, How you doin? You seem a little… _distracted._ ” My mouth went dry and I looked for a distraction from Frisk’s flirts.

 

Oh…there’s Chara, that should be a suitable avoidance mechanism.

 

“Hey Char…Chara…” I trailed off as the redhead trotted over stopping on Frisk’s left.

 

There was a light blush on her pale cheeks as I stared. The determination mage scratched the back of her head while I(shamelessly) admired her.

 

She had a red strapless top paired with…

 

Well men’s swim trunks, a reddish orange pair. Despite that she made them look cute actually. But the most notable part of Chara was actually…

 

 _Her abs…_ I’m pretty sure you could grate cheese off of them and I really kind of want to l—

 

“This was a _horrible_ mistake…” I ducked my head, only to headbutt Asriel’s stomach. I looked up to see the blank look of displeasure and I finally collapsed, curling into an embarrassed ball of shame.

 

_His fur was soft…and his abs as hard as di-_

 

Please shut up!

 

_No._

 

…

 

…

 

Ehh?

 

“O-Oh why is Brandon on the ground?” From my low vantage point I could see Alphys bare feet as well her fishy girlfriend’s own toes.

 

“Oh I get it! It’s like those human anime beach episodes with nosebleeds?!” Undyne’s voice rattled in my ears. “Which reminds me…do humans have nosebleeds like that?”

 

I groaned.

 

Chara laughed, her lovely voice somehow calming my nerves. “If humans did that every time they got aroused. I’m 99% sure we’d be dying of blood loss on a regular basis.”

 

_Yay…wait does this make it fanservice?_

 

…

 

…

 

I should probably stand back up, a floor where hundreds if not thousands of monsters walk all over it isn’t…exactly clean.

 

Ok…easy does it Brandon. Getting back up isn’t a complicated action at all. You’re perfectly capable of not acting like an idiot in front of two hot women.

 

Chara was showing clear concern on her person, if her withdrawn body language was a good sign. I cleared my throat, ready to speak. But she beat me to it.

 

“G’day to you…” She mumbled and I stammered a greeting back.

 

“U-Uh sorry… a-about that. I’m just not used to…to…” I licked my lips to moisturize them, my ears burning red hot. “Uh…it’s nothing, never mind.”

 

“That’s alright. Besides you’re rather cute when you freak out.” Her reassurance didn’t help matters, but I did feel flattered. Chara covered herself awkwardly once she noticed the slip of the tongue but didn’t retract the statement.

 

“Uh…right.” I rolled my shoulders, sighing at the satisfying crack. I was calm and relaxed again. “Still I’m sorry about that.”

 

“No it wasn’t bad…just… _unexpected._ ” She didn’t meet my eyes, much to my confusion.

 

“Well if you two aren’t _busy_ anymore, maybe you should try out one of the lazy rivers.” Asriel broke in, his reddish eyes illuminated by…something.

 

“Well…the two of us are going to one of the pools! You should meet up with us when you guys are done Kay?” The three of us nodded as they scampered off.

 

Yeah…the lazy river should be get my mind off of this fiasco…

* * *

(Twenty minutes later…)

 

After that we had made our way toward “The Lazy River One”

 

…

 

Yeah, anyway the river seemed to be based off a subtropical jungle with various trees that wouldn’t look out of place in Florida. It was a balmy 80 degrees and a bunch of different monsters were already floating as we stopped at the beginning of the winding water path.

 

There were all kinds of monsters who wouldn’t look too out of place.  Various furry folk, like jaguars, some scaly folk like alligators and so on. Some rode in on tubes while others swim freely using their bodies or even magic.

 

“So would you like to tell me why you had a little freak out?” I growled at the shit eating smirk on Chara’s _lovely_ face…dammit…

 

She had an orange float tube while I had a green one, and she used her own to pat my head.

 

I’m fucking _eighteen_ you gorgeous lady!  Not _five!_

 

“I’m not feeling like telling you…” I hid the shame of whining behind my inner tube, eyeing the water as an escape.

 

“H-Hey I was just teasing…honest.” I was thrown back by her sudden apology and waved my hands in front of her face.

 

“It’s alright! No worries okay?” She gave me a sweet smile that made my hands sweaty.

 

_Let’s calm down…_

 

**SQUEAK!**

 

“So I’m guessing you’re ready then?” Chara asked as I adjusted my flotation device with a serious look.

 

“Yep!” She smirked and my danger senses started tingling.

 

“BOOP!” My mind went blank as a pale mass struck against me and I fell into the slightly warmish water.

 

Ok…so _that_ happened…let’s figure out up from down okay?

 

Ok floating up…hitting the surface…almost slamming my face onto Chara’s face…

 

“GAHHH! The fuck!” I laughed while Chara flailed in the water, feeling some excellent schadenfreude.

 

I slowly made it ahead of her as the current picked me up, an embarrassed Chara was then pushed forward by Frisk.

 

“Hey there…” I grinned and she hid her face in the water while we gently drifted down the artificial river.

 

“I deserve that…” she brushed her hair, paddling with her legs to move forward. “So what’s bugging you really?”

 

“Am I that obvious?”

 

Chara rolled her eyes. “No shit Sherlock, you’re an open book for us. Just like I can tell you’re embarrassed by the swimsuits,” I flinched, dropping my head down onto my inner tube. “I can tell something is really eating at you…and Asriel ain’t telling.”

 

I paddled backwards, so I could float shoulder to…head with the young women.

 

“I…want to go home.” Her expression was soft and filled with a genuine concern I didn’t expect from her. Thought I really should have…

 

“I…can understand…that…because it’s clear you have a family that cares about you.” She hesitantly placed her hand on my back, lightly patting it.

 

“I’m sorry.” I apologized, realizing that I had something she didn’t get to experience.

 

“Don’t be, that’s all in the past now.” Her smile was rather fake and I felt guilty for bringing down the mood.

 

I…

 

“Surprise attack hug!” I turned around only to get a facefull of—

 

_FRISK!?_

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” I smirked at the crack in Chara’s voice, deciding to reciprocate the hug. Out of common courtesy if nothing else.

 

And don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same, if you had the chance. I let go soon after, my depression falling to the wayside for at least a little while.

 

“Thanks…” I kicked my feet speeding up, and turning so I could swim backwards.

 

“You’re welcome buddy.” Frisk bounced in the water as she looked up at something ahead, and a green flare emerged from her eyes.

 

Several platforms flew back toward us, each containing a distinct fruit…a mango, an orange, and an…apple.

 

At the sight of the mango, Chara’s eyes lit up like a thousand burning suns and she reached out excitedly.

 

“Gimme gimme!” She punched the platform apart, gripping onto the colorful fruit with a practical death grip. She attacked the tropical fruit in a frighteningly cute feeding frenzy. She munched through its skin with ease, and I grabbed the apple for myself.

 

_What’s an apple doing in a tropical forest?_

 

More importantly was the look on Chara’s face as I glanced over. Her snack had gone down to her stomach in an instant and I snickered.

 

“Shut up!”

 

“I didn’t say anything Chara.” I did my best to alleviate her concerns, though it did little to help. So I decided to take a bite of a monster apple…

 

Hmm…pretty good…let’s take a few more… _anddd_ done!

 

“So this is pretty relaxing ain’t it?” Frisk asked us as she leaned back on a summoned barrier. Her face split into a wide smile, her eyes glimmering with relief.

 

I suppose she doesn't like others being sad…

 

“Yeah…I honestly think this place would make _killing_ back home. People would pay good money for this.” The two nodded thought Frisk flushed and yelped as a dark shape emerged underneath her.

 

“EEEE!” She shrieked, sitting herself down and scowling as Asriel emerged from the water.

 

“BAHAHAHA!” He dived to the river bottom, avoiding a green wave of paralyzing energy from a searingly enraged Frisk.

 

I ignored the splash as Frisk dived below the water, leaning over to Chara. She apparently had a request.

 

Chara pointed to my left, to a mango tree…tilting her head in a desperate fashion.

 

“Could…could you pass me a couple please?” She added a pout for good measure.

 

I narrowed my eyes and…

 

_Lift._

 

Three fruit were gently torn from their branches.

 

_Pull._

 

They magnetically flew toward me, and gently fell onto a bowl shaped green barrier. I passed them into the clamoring hands of my friend. She tore into them with gusto, and I watched waiting for her to finish .

 

“So good…Mmm…yesss…” soon enough all that was left was some juice on her hands, which she quickly proceeded to lick up.

 

This was making me a tad uncomfortable…

 

“You done?” I crossed my arms, sinking into the warm water and enjoying the current pulling me along.

 

Chara showed off her teeth in delight. “Yeah! Sorry…it’s just that I really like mangoes. Besides chocolate anyway.”

 

“What about chocolate covered mangoes?” Her eyes lit up and I swear I saw her drool for a second.

 

“That sounds _amazing._ ” I rolled my eyes at her gushing, but I couldn’t keep a smile off of my face. Her being happy….was a good thing.

 

“Yeah…”

* * *

(Frisk’s POV)

 

I felt happiness as the two nerdy goobers talked and talked. It was the first time I had seen Chara happy to talk with someone who _wasn’t_ a monster or me.

 

“You know it’s a good thing he’s so open. A SOUL like his can keep Chara at ease.” Asriel smiled as we watched them converse.

 

”Yeah…” a calm silence fell over us, and for a few minutes I could relax and…

 

_Just be._

 

…

 

…

 

“Frisk? Why don’t you go over there and hang out? I’m just gonna be chilling here…” I shook my head, my facade cracking at the worry in his voice.

 

It…was better this way…

 

Asriel palmed his face and I tried to back away. My attempt was met with no success and I was pulled back by a conjured vine.

 

“H-Hey what are you—?”

 

“Enough of this Frisk,” I quailed at the anger in Asriel’s voice. “It’s not a good thing to be doing this…trying to isolate yourself is _not_ healthy!”

 

Words started spilling out as I broke. “B-But I can’t…I did _terrible_ things…unforgivable things. She needs someone better than me.” The goat monster rolled his eyes.

 

“You…IDIOT. You think you’re the only one that’s done _shit._ I killed _everyone_ too…I RESET too…and Chara is not some angel. And under the same circumstances… _he’d_ be no different. And he knows that.” He was shaking, flames forming steam as he waved his hands beneath the surface.

 

“I…thats…I…”

 

“Frisk.” I could hear the tiredness in him, and listened. “You’re only human. It’s okay to want to make Chara happy. But she still cares about you, despite your mistakes. So _please_ stop…”

 

“S-Sure.”

 

Asriel grinned. “Too bad you’ll have to make your _leave_ soon though.” I tilted my head until I felt a vine wrap itself around my waist.

 

No don’t you dare…you son of a g—

 

“HEADS UP!”

 

**SPLASH!**

 

“BLAGHH! Frisk what the bmhmml?!”

 

“Nice one Azzy!”

 

* * *

(Chara’s POV)

 

“W-Wait really? People make AUs about us?” I asked Brandon a second time while we walked along the artificial beach pool.

 

“Yep there’s a _shitload_ of AU’s and sans…I only know about some of them though.”

 

I quirked an eyebrow. “Examples being?”

 

He started tapping his fingers as he answered. “Uh let’s see here…Negatale, Positale, Emptytale, Underswap, Underfell, Negativetale, Outertale, Outerfell, Outerswap, Aftertale, Inktale, Inkfell, Reapertale, Dreamtale, Xtale, Gzfell, Gzswap, Horrortale, Altertale, Alterswap, Afterfell, Swapfell, Fellswap, Storyshift…”

 

Oh mother of god what have I unleashed…

 

“H-Hey…Uh buddy you don’t have to list off every one of them.” Even Frisk and Asriel were caught off guard at Brandon’s list off.

 

“Oh there’s also Dusttale, Quantumtale, Epictale, Flowerfell, Colortale, Endtale, Nightmaretale, Lusttale, Candytale, Quantumfell, Quantumswap, Quantumshift, Underlust, Swaplust, Lustfell…and a lot of the different sans are shipped together…for some reason.”

 

Are his eyes glowing? And what was that last thing…?

 

“S-Ship…as in Sancest…?” Brandon resolutely nodded, his face like stone.

 

Horror filled me as Frisk opened her mouth. “Are…there… _other_ ships?

 

He opened his mouth and I rushed to stop him, but he stepped aside narrowly dodging my hands… Damn it anything but this… _nonsense._

 

“Off the top of my head,” I shook my head, fear clouding my mind. “Soriel…”

 

“Sans and Toriel?” Asriel asked with a rigid tone, Brandon gave a thumbs up.

 

“Where was I? Frans…” Frisk blushed shaking her head at the idea of her and that smiley little bastard. “Charisk, Pappyton, Alphydyne, Sansby, Pappysans…” He shuddered at the last one, and revulsion churned my stomach.

 

Then I remembered the second ship…

 

“W-Wait…they ship Frisk and…and me?” I stuttered out the question.

 

“Apparently.” He dryly answered back. His nose curled with some disgust, looking like he had swallowed an egg. “Maybe we should stop anyway…long story short…people ship everyone with everyone…I don’t even know why I remember any of that…I’ve only read a few AU’s I kind of like…?”

 

I breathed a sigh of relief as this conversation shifted. Even more relief flooded in when I could see Alphys and Undyne laying down on the beach right next to…

 

D-Dad?

 

The king was the first to notice us, his horns shining in the warm artificial sunlight from above.

 

“Howdy! You three must be enjoying yourself on this lovely day.”  D—the King greeted us with his usual happy go lucky attitude.

 

“Hello.”

 

“Hi!”

 

“Greetings.” The king looked at me with surprise, and I cursed at the slip. Years of living with Toriel had conditioned me to talk like she did.

 

“Hey dad. Watcha here for?” Asriel asked Asgore, his feet brushing against try sand.

 

“Ahh…I had decided to pay Water Park a visit after a long meeting with the Delta Council…mostly plans on how to organize after the Barrier is broken.”

 

That makes sense, there’s going to be a lot of changes once Monsterkind is free…and this time it’ll be for good.

 

“Yep! I was waiting for you guys to show up!” Undyne cut in with a winning grin, her sharp teeth clicking against men another.

 

“Why?” Brandon was suspicious, his eyes narrow and dark.

 

“I was looking to play a human game Alphys told me about…volleyball I think?”

 

_Oh? A game you say?_

 

“Are you sure you want to play that game little fish?” My hands curled into fists, excitement passing through my nerves.

 

Undyne smiled. “Oh _yes_ I do…and I’ve got the ball right here.” From out of nowhere a ball appeared and she balanced it on a finger with a fierce snarl.

 

Brandon fidgeted as our rivalry sent an electric tingle into the air. Both of our SOULS flaring magical energy into the environment.

 

“So…how are we going to do this?” The smallest human among us asked, using what courage he had. “Youngest versus oldest…or humans versus monsters? Or some other configuration?”

 

“The first one sounds like the best option…what do you think pops?” Asriel agreed, palming his hands together with a competitive gleam in his eye.

 

Asgore stood to his full height, his shadow casting darkness down upon us. He smirked. “Oh this old goat still has a few good years left.”

 

“Y-Yeah we can do this!” Electricity crackled from Alphys hands and the teams were decided.

 

The seven of us walked over to a net and took our sides…

 

“Know how to play?” I asked Brandon and he gave a thumbs up.

 

“More or less…we had to learn when I still had PE…like four or five years ago? My memory isn’t the best.” He rolled his shoulders as we got set to start…

 

“Well…you don’t know how how _monsters_ play.” Undyne threw the ball in the air and as it landed back down she—

 

**BOOM!**

 

The ball rocketed at supersonic speeds and I leaped striking it back toward Alphys. The lizard lady yelped and I roared as she missed. We had gotten our first point…

 

_This is going to be fun…_

 

Music started to play, and I grinned recognizing their themes. Brandon did too if the excited if nervous gleam in his eye was any indication.

 

I _checked_ them.

 

*** Asgore Dreemurr ATK 80 DEF 80**

*** King Fluffybuns**

*** Big old softy…still a Boss Monster though**

 

He looked more than ready to rumble…now for Alphys.

 

 ***** **Alphys ATK 1 DEF 2**

*** This nerd is going down**

 

No need to check Undyne…

 

“Doesn't seem fair going with 4 against 3…” Brandon murmured quietly scratching an itch behind his back.

 

“FUFUFU! It’s just a little handicap…you’re no match for us!” Undyne boasted and I saw _red._

 

Fire poured out from my hands, and I spiked the ball. It broke the sound barrier and the four of us roared together.

 

_GERONIMO!_

 

* * *

(My POV)

 

_Ughhhhh…_

 

“You doing okay?” Chara picked me up, and I wobbled on my poor feet.

 

The volleyball game had been _amazing_ and tiring…we had played multiple rounds, with dozens of magical attacks accompanying that ball.

 

Fireballs…spears…even electrical attacks from good old Alphys…

 

Chara threw her own fireballs alongside using her _bravery_ strength to punt the ball at even higher speeds.

 

Frisk and I bounced the ball back with our barriers, though I made use of my _blue_ layer magic a fair bit.

 

Thought I did take a few smacks to the face whenever Chara got excitable…it was worth it though. She’d get all embarrassed and fuss over me…it was a sight to see. It was the most fun I had had since falling down here. After that we had spent time swimming and trying out the numerous attractions all around.

 

But now I was starving…

 

“You look like you’re pretty hungry?” A glorious cheeseburger was placed in front of me, and saliva built up in my mouth.

 

Frisk had brought the food from…some type of mini Grillby's manned by his daughter…she had a towel wrapped around her and I hid my disappointment.

 

“Yeah that was really fun actually.” Frisk sauntered toward me, taking a seat on the wooden chair next to me. “I don’t usually do the whole ‘hanging out’ thing, I’m not the most _sociable_ person.”

 

Frisk shrugged, her eyes closing in response. “That’s alright, I’m fine with chilling at home just as much as playing “outdoors” I snorted, staring up the decorated stone and rock above us.

 

I took a bite of the food, and— _oh my god_ the taste is incredible! Gimme gimme!

 

…

 

_It’s all gone…_

 

Frisk giggled, hiding it behind her left hand. “So I’m guessing you enjoyed that?” I pouted wanting another one. But it would likely be unhealthy.

 

“It wouldn’t be unhealthy. Monster food doesn't have any health risks. You can’t eat whatever without it affecting your health.” Chara added the tidbit before casually moving back, returning to a chat with the King.

 

Wait I can do what?!

 

_But then that means…_

 

“I can eat as much junk food as I want and I won’t face any consequences…” I whispered the thought.

 

Chocolate, pizza, candy and salty chips…Mexican Doritos…oh dear god.

 

“Too cute…” I blushed as the dark skinned girl next to me laughed with gusto. “But you still need to eat normal food for your nutrients.”

 

I waved her off. “There won’t be a problem with that…I eat relatively healthy at home. It’s just spoiled by junk food.”

 

“If you say so…” I quieted down, taking deep breaths as I simply people watched.

 

The monsters walking around us, despite their imprisonment in the Underground. They looked happier than any human I had ever seen. Despite our supposed “freedom” they lived better than most humans did…

 

I almost envied them. The ability to just be…and a small part of me hoped they could teach this to humanity. That their positivity and self love could make us better than we once were…

 

And I knew my world was out there. And the technology here could stop the impending catastrophes wrought by first our ignorance, and then our apathy. This world’s humanity had already failed and we could see the example set for us.

 

I wasn’t a shining beam of sunshine like some of the people down here…but that didn’t mean I didn’t have hopes and dreams for the future.

 

“You’re pretty tired huh?” It was about then when I realized that I was laying my head down on the soft warmth of Frisk’s arm. I thought of removing myself from her presence. But I’ll be honest and state I was too comfy to move.

 

“We’re friends right?” I mumbled out the question, yawning between the words. I was _not_ used to this much activity and it showed. Frisk didn’t seem to mind, allowing me a resting spot.

 

“Definitely.” I beamed up at her, some of the loneliness I felt deep down ebbing at her words.  

 

I yawned…my reserves spent after a day of fun and relaxation. It was probably time to go home and rest…

 

* * *

(3rd POV)

 

Night fell on the surface as well as the Underground, the distant snoring of its many denizens echoing into the dark night. Around Mount Ebbot there was no sign of human habitation. Hundreds of thousands of years of time had eroded away all but a few bits of sharpened metal. Countless blades of immaculate make and design, impossibly preserved on timescales beyond human comprehension.

 

The only signs that anyone was there, was the small trail of crushed grass and broken branches, starting from the base of the mountain and ending more than two kilometer into the air, up a steep slope next to a massive cliff where the open sea and the land below could be seen for many miles around.

 

Two figures, one decidedly humanoid and the other decidedly not. The two beings looked on in curiosity at the artificial looking square cut into the mountain.

 

Visible within the hole was a curtain of light and esoteric symbols. The humanoid figure was illuminated by the light emanating from the mountain.

 

Revealing it to be a _certain_ small child. They had olive toned skin with messy brown hair, obscuring the silver gleam of their eyes. They shivered in the cold breeze their only protection being a ratty long sleeved green shirt with a single horizontal yellow stripe and chocolate brown pants and shoes.

 

Next to them a truly strange creature was on the lookout for trouble, it’s amber eyes filled with cautious suspicion. The strange crocodilian was covered in a jaguar patterned coat of fine down, its blade like claws crunching against the loose soil and rock.

 

Around the entrance…well over a hundred weapons would have formed an impenetrable fence, blocking any from entering. If it hadn’t been for time wearing the steel and iron down to gravel and rust.

 

The child stepped forward, their small hands stopping just short of the pulsing bubble of impossibly dense magical energy. Her companion sniffed nervously but followed after the child regardless.

 

The child didn’t enter just yet, staring at a single stone mural just on the other side, only barely visible through the forcefield keeping the inside of the mountain isolated from the rest of the world.

 

“I…” they went silent, their hands grasping onto their pants with urgency, their little heart beating rapidly. Yet their companion nudged them forward regardless.

 

The human steeled their nerves and with a hand on the archosaurs soft head she crossed…

 

…

 

…

 

“I thought there would be more fanfair but nothing…” the two walked toward the stone mural, depicting a single name as well as an apology. For who neither of them could say, they could only guess.

 

They kept up the pace after leaving the mural behind, besides placing a few newly plucked golden flowers down. They eventually came across a bountiful garden of well cared for flowers and the young human smiled.

 

“Whoever lives here must really be into botany and gardening…” The small human frowned at the enormous chair fit for a true giant of a man or women. They decided it wasn’t in their best interest to find out and went on their merry way.

 

The human and beast finally found themselves in a short greyish hallway, a song of love and happiness from further ahead making them smile. But in that light and happy song there was a single note of despair and darkness, a hint of a terrible past that made both shudder with revulsion and terror.

 

A time and place where it was kill or be killed…and they continued to move forward, looking on in wonder at the hall where people like them are judged.

 

A light like the sun shined through the ornate window, the stone pillars casting shadow and darkness in contrast to the warm light. Their steps echoed through the hall and they glanced about, checking for any spies. The human’s SOUL sensed nothing around them and they moved on.

 

Their SOUL was awoken by a song telling a tale of an exiled people, of a family of both worlds that no longer was.

 

They went up the stairs…and found the cozy area bereft of life. So they walked onward, stopping at the entrance. An enormous door of fine wood and a doorknob too high for them to reach. But luck was on their side, the door left ajar by the slimmest of margins.

 

“Lucky…really. But I said I would make it or my name isn’t Kris.” The human smiled as they shut the door behind them. But it was then when they realized the scope of their actions, glancing aside to what lay below.

 

Kris stuttered. “I-It’s e-enormous!” They cringed as their voice echoed downward, the bustling city below obscuring the sound. The child’s hands started to shake, their lip quivering.

 

“Is this…what she wanted to protect? Is this why she…” Kris cut themselves off, focusing on their internal song to calm themselves. But the song bounced against the cavern walls, the child flinching as their mana was bounced back by three particular SOULS.

 

Kris was now curious, and would seek out answers, all she needed to do…was…

 

_Take a leap of fate._

 

With their friend in hand they flew, thin green barriers forming to break their fall from the open corridor.

 

They had to know…why they were compelled to make this journey? How did others come here first, and why did this place reek of darkness and light alike?

 

Kris would get their answers…but what would the cost be?

* * *

 

  
  
  
  


**V̉̌̊̿̋ͧͧ̾ͤͬ̾̒ͮ̇̑̐ͯ͊͏̭̥͖͟͝͝͞O̧̨͍͔̯̣̦̰ͫ̌ͬ̃ͫ́̃̎̔̒́̊ͫ̒ͯͪ̆̽̚P̷̵̭̟̟̠̙̣̓́̎̽̋ͫ͂̉̕ͅͅ ̶̛̌̏̐̽̇̏̈̌͆ͯͯ̒ͥ̒͗̂̚͜҉̨̟͓̖͔̞͍̫̯̬̞̰͔̜̤̮0̷̵̹̜̤̲̗̰̭̹̺͔̜͖ͣͪͯ̑̔ͣͧͫͨͣ̽ͧ̎̆ͫ̉ͯ̄͜ͅ ̌̆̅ͣ̇̀̎̉͂̏̐͏̷̛̝̰̪̞͚̮̣̙̟̜̟͍̼͍̖̯̭́Ṙ̴̹̮̮̦̱̞̓ͨ̆̇ͦ̆̕̕͜͜ͅE̸̶͉̠̰̗͙̘͂̌͂͆̔̏ͭ̒͛̌͞͠͝Ý̵̧̾̈̎ͭ̈̾̐ͬ͏̘̯̙̟̺̼A̶̩̖͈̜̻̻̥̻̹̲͈̮ͨͨ̑͌͜ͅͅL̶̛̗̘̹͎̯̰̙̘̟̲̝̺͎̲̱̙̥̈͋͗̀̉ͤ̏͋̇͒ͪ͌͢͡P̧ͦ̌̃͆̓ͨ͗͒͛͂̾ͫͫ͊̐̇͞͏̯̪̘̬̯̠̝̯͓̖̳̻͇̬͝ͅͅͅ)̡̼̠̘̻̖̻͓͒̌̐͆͐̋͆̽́ͅ**

  
  
  


My…my…things are slowly coming into place, piece by piece, step by step. We are slowly reaching the apex…the end…so let me tell you a story. Those listening from across the gulf of time and space, those infinite realities that I and you will never know…

 

Let me tell you of a LEGEND… a PROPHECY…long foretold…across countless worlds in many different forms…

 

A legend of HOPE.

 

A legend of DREAMS.

 

A legend of LIGHT.

 

A legend of DARK.

 

A legend of HUMANS

 

And a legend of MONSTERS.

 

This is the legend of the WORLD.

 

For millennia, there was a balance between LIGHT and DARK.

 

Bringing peace to the SOUL of the WORLD.

 

But this harmony was shattered long ago…by those with greed in their HEARTS.

 

Now a terrible cataclysm is coming…

 

Soon…the sky of ALL worlds will run black with terror.

 

And the land and seas will crack and wave with fear.

 

Then, their heart pounding…

 

All WORLDS will draw their final breath.

 

But HEROES of all shapes and sizes will appear.

 

HUMANS.

 

MONSTERS.

 

And OTHERWORLDERS.

 

Only they can guard INFINITY.

 

And banish the RAPTURE of the ANGEL.

 

Only then will the WORLD be set FREE.

 

Only then will all SOULS be saved from destruction.

 

But today…the broken BALANCE has shifted once again.

 

The SOUL of another WORLD is now AWAKE.

 

The BARRIER between REALMS has shattered.

 

The ANGEL’S fragments now plot across REALITY.

 

The HEROES must UNITE, or the UNDERGROUND…

 

Will EMPTY once more…

 

 **BECAUSE** **I AM HERE.**

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Seems there's something rather mysterious coming. You'll see this entity be expanded upon as time goes on. They'll be a lingering plot point for a long while.
> 
> Besides that, I've been thinking of eventually commissioning a few pieces of art for my story, really bring the characters alive you know? Preferably a legend of korraish style. I don't have a dearth of knowledge of artists that do Undertale, and it'd be nice to see if any of you few readers know anyone with a very particular set of skills.
> 
> It would be nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again. As you can see I've decided to write another self insert involving Undertale thought this will prove to be of a lesser scope in some aspects. A bit more...down to Earth you could say. 
> 
> Either way I hope this chapter sits well with all you Undertale fans out there. I already have a general idea and plot line for where I'm going with this. 
> 
> Hopefully it all works out!


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